(Adil Soz/IFEX) – On 5 July 2006, President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed into law the government bill “On Amendments and Additions to Some Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Matters related to Mass Media”, despite numerous protests from local journalists and human rights organizations. The bill, proposed by Information Minister Yermukhamet Yertysbayev on 30 […]
(Adil Soz/IFEX) – On 5 July 2006, President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed into law the government bill “On Amendments and Additions to Some Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Matters related to Mass Media”, despite numerous protests from local journalists and human rights organizations.
The bill, proposed by Information Minister Yermukhamet Yertysbayev on 30 May, provoked a strong public reaction.
The controversial law bans any editor whose media outlet had been closed in the past from opening a new one, prohibits the re-use of the name of any banned media outlet, introduces a tax for any media outlet willing to register, compulsory re-registration to replace an editor-in-chief or to move into another location, and cancellation of license or suspension of a media outlet in the event of administrative violations.
“We are confident that the law contradicts the logic of legal democratic Kazakhstan. We hope the Parliament will pass an alternative bill, proposed by journalistic NGOs this fall,” Adil Soz Foundation spokesperson Tamara Kaleyeva said.
