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![A cashier counts Kazakhstan's Tenge currency notes in a Kazkommertsbank branch in Almaty, 4 February 2010., REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/kazakhstan_bank_reuters_9december2015.jpg)
Kazakhstan: Website owner harassed for disseminating “false information” about bank
Police searched the Almaty offices of Nakanune.kz and the homes of Nakanune.kz owner Guzyal Baidalinova and journalists Yulia Kozlova. Almaty police said they have initiated pre-trial investigations against Respublika and Nakanune.kz for allegedly disseminating false information about the activities of Kazkommertsbank.
![Link to: Housing rights activist detained in Kazakhstan over comments made on YouTube](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
Housing rights activist detained in Kazakhstan over comments made on YouTube
Bolatbek Blyalov is the third activist in Kazakhstan arrested in the last month on suspicion of “inciting social, national, clan, racial, class, or religious discord,” a vague and overbroad criminal offense, during a crackdown on outspoken government critics.
![Link to: Activists charged with “inciting national discord” in Kazakhstan](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
Activists charged with “inciting national discord” in Kazakhstan
Police arrested Ermek Narymbaev, a civic activist, and Serikzhan Mambetalin, former head of the Rukhaniyat party, on October 12, after receiving information that “they had circulated material on social media that contains clear signs of inciting national discord [and] insulting national honor and dignity,” according to a police statement.
![Link to: New legislation tightens restrictions on NGOs in Kazakhstan](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
New legislation tightens restrictions on NGOs in Kazakhstan
“The laws would ignore recommendations made in June by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly and association, when he called on Kazakhstan’s government to reduce, not increase, its regulation of civic groups.”
![A cashier counts Kazakhstan's Tenge currency notes in a Kazkommertsbank branch in Almaty, 4 February 2010., REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/kazakhstan_bank_reuters_9december2015.jpg)
How opposition media are suppressed in Kazakhstan
A Kazakh court has ordered the owner of independent news outlet nakanune.kz to remove a letter from its website. The court has also ordered the website’s owner, Guzyal Baidalinova, to pay Kazakhstan’s leading bank more than $100,000 USD in alleged moral damages.
![A man uses his mobile phone as he walks past a board showing currency exchange rates in Almaty, 20 August 2015, REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/kazakhstan_currency_25august2015_reuters.jpg)
Activist jailed for wanting to meet publicly with government officials
Police in Almaty accused Ermek Narymbaev organizing an unsanctioned protest after he wrote on Facebook that he was going to Almaty’s central square to hand-deliver a list of demands to local government representatives following the devaluation of the national currency.
![Link to: Reporter held arbitrarily after investigating an alleged rape case in Kazakhstan](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
Reporter held arbitrarily after investigating an alleged rape case in Kazakhstan
Arrested by the National Security Committee (KNB) on 14 May, Yaroslav Golyshkin is being held on blackmail and extortion charges brought by the governor and is currently subject to a pre-trial detention order valid until 16 July.
![Link to: Orchestrated throttling of Kazakh opposition weekly](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
Orchestrated throttling of Kazakh opposition weekly
The municipal authorities of Almaty launched the case against against opposition weekly ADAM bol over an article about Ukraine they called “pro-war propaganda.” They are seeking the withdrawal of the weekly’s licence and its definitive closure.
![Link to: Kazak government must commit to protecting freedom of expression](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
Kazak government must commit to protecting freedom of expression
PEN International called on Kazakhstan to comply with its obligation under international law to protect freedom of expression, and proposed a number of recommendations on how this right could be better protected.
![Link to: Kazakhstan court awards thousands in damages against advertising agency](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
Kazakhstan court awards thousands in damages against advertising agency
An Almaty court awarded thousands of dollars in damages against an advertising agency for a poster depicting two male cultural icons kissing, Human Rights Watch said today.
![Poster of Kazakh composer Kurmangazy Sagyrbaiuly and Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin designed by Havas Worldwide Kazakhstan, an advertising agency, © 2014 Havas Worldwide Kazakhstan](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/kazakhstan_poster_havasworldwide_facebook_6oct2014.jpg)
Kazakhstan: Lawsuits over same-sex kiss on poster
Respect for freedom of expression should lead to dismissal of multiple lawsuits over a poster that shows two male cultural icons kissing.
![Kazakh riot police officers detain demonstrators during an opposition rally in Almaty, 17 December 2011., AP Photo](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/kazakhstan_stateofemergency_15april2014_apimages.jpg)
Kazakh media publications and public associations risk suspension under state of emergency decree
If the government declares a state of emergency, officials can issue orders to suspend or terminate media publications, suspend the activities of political parties and public associations, or have administrative sanctions brought against individuals for using audio or video recording devices when they have been ordered not to.
![Link to: Assandi Times latest newspaper to be shut down in Kazakhstan](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
Assandi Times latest newspaper to be shut down in Kazakhstan
Three court marshals in Almaty raided the offices of the Assandi Times and ordered the journalists to stop working, accusing the paper of being linked to the independent newspaper Respublika, which is banned in Kazakhstan.
![Link to: Kazakh court shuts down another critical newspaper](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
Kazakh court shuts down another critical newspaper
The shutdown order issued by a district court in Almaty against the independent weekly newspaper Pravdivaya Gazeta is yet another example of Kazakhstan’s determination to gag independent voices in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on 25 February 2014, adding that the verdict should be overturned on appeal.
![Link to: Journalist badly beaten in Kazakhstan](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
Journalist badly beaten in Kazakhstan
A journalist in Kazakhstan who has criticized local government officials and written on other sensitive issues was seriously beaten by unidentified assailants on August 20, 2013 in western Kazakhstan.
![Link to: Kazakh lawyer in forced psychiatric detention](https://ifex.org/wp-content/themes/ifex/assets/images/placeholder.png)
Kazakh lawyer in forced psychiatric detention
Zinaida Mukhortova has been detained, off and on, since February 2010, after she wrote a letter to the president of Kazakhstan to complain about interference by a member of parliament in a civil case in which she was involved.