(Adil Soz/IFEX) – On 12 October 2005 in Almaty, Kaziz Toguzbayev, a journalist with “Azat” newspaper, was sentenced to five days’ administrative detention on charges of taking part in an unsanctioned demonstration under Article 373 of the Administrative Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The journalist was arrested on 10 October while covering a demonstration […]
(Adil Soz/IFEX) – On 12 October 2005 in Almaty, Kaziz Toguzbayev, a journalist with “Azat” newspaper, was sentenced to five days’ administrative detention on charges of taking part in an unsanctioned demonstration under Article 373 of the Administrative Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The journalist was arrested on 10 October while covering a demonstration by members and supporters of the Alga Party’s Youth League, who planned to lay flowers at an independence monument. Alga is an opposition party, formerly called the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK), which was closed by court order and then renamed.
Although Toguzbayev showed his press credentials, dictaphone and camera, the police took him to the Bostandyk district police department in Almaty along with 50 other demonstrators. He was held there for almost three hours and then released until the court hearing that took place on 12 October.
Following the hearing, the journalist was detained until 17 October and released.
Article 4 of Kazakhstan’s media law stipulates that all journalists have a right to take part in unsanctioned events, demonstrations and other forms of public display if they have press credentials.
