Kazakhstan

Gennady Pavlyuk, who wrote under the pseudonym Ibrahim Rustambek, died after he was bound in tape and pushed out of the window of an apartment building in Almaty.

Adil Soz and seven other media organisations say that parts of the proposed “Law on Television and Radio Broadcasting” do not conform with international access to information standards.

Harassment of Stan TV and the independent news agency Namystan intensified after they covered an unprecedented strike by oil workers in the western province of Mangystau that was violently suppressed by the authorities.

Some of the blogs on the portal allegedly violated the law on “disseminating materials containing propaganda for terrorism, religious extremism, and incitement to commit acts of terrorism”.

Making such actions subject to heavy criminal penalties is an illegitimate interference with the right to freedom of expression, says Human Rights Watch.

“Justice will not be done without further investigation into the possibility that the murder was linked to the victim’s professional and political activities,” RSF said.

Alla Zlobina believes that recent threats and intimidation of her daughter stem from an article she wrote in which she accused regional authorities of being partially responsible for the floods that hit western Kazakhstan in April 2011.

The new law stipulates that legal bodies suing mass media outlets and journalists “for the protection of honor, dignity, and business reputation” cannot claim financial compensation for moral damages.

The timing of Daniyar Moldashev’s disappearance — only days before Kazakhstan’s presidential vote — and the disturbing circumstances surrounding it have caused concern among colleagues.

CPJ is concerned that the murder of Gennady Pavlyuk has been classified as a robbery without an exhaustive investigation into the possibility it was related to his journalism work.

ARTICLE 19 opposes this candidacy due to the poor human rights record of the Kazakh government and its failure to implement recent pledges to improve press freedom.

“Uralskaya Nedelya” had been facing a crippling fine after reporting that the company began preparations for a state project long before the tender was announced.

Adil Soz believes recent Criminal Code amendments serve to diminish some penalties but do not sufficiently address the issue of criminalisation of defamation.

Kazakhstan’s authorities have failed to fulfil their commitment to review the defamation legislation and adopt access to information legislation.

CPJ noted that not only has Kazakhstan not kept its promises but the press freedom situation has possibly degenerated further over the past two years.

Kazakhstan is one of the few member states of the OSCE without an access to information law, according to ARTICLE 19.