(Adil Soz/IFEX) – During a 21 July 2004 meeting, President Nursultan Nazarbayev informed the heads of local media that the presidential administration has hired a group of lawyers and plans to file lawsuits against foreign mass media outlets immediately after they publish or broadcast information aimed at “discrediting” Kazakhstan. The president said, “We are an […]
(Adil Soz/IFEX) – During a 21 July 2004 meeting, President Nursultan Nazarbayev informed the heads of local media that the presidential administration has hired a group of lawyers and plans to file lawsuits against foreign mass media outlets immediately after they publish or broadcast information aimed at “discrediting” Kazakhstan.
The president said, “We are an independent state and live in accordance with our own laws, not with foreign laws. Foreign mass media should operate within the Kazakh legal framework.”
A recent court case involving the “Assandi Times” independent newspaper proves that the presidential administration’s intentions are serious. “Assandi Times” is highly critical of the Kazakh president and those close to him. Currently, the newspaper is regularly subjected to judicial actions and criminal attacks. In June, unidentified individuals published and distributed a false edition of the newspaper, in which opposition leaders announced that they were giving up their activities and discredited each other. Afterwards, the “Assandi Times” editorial board made a statement expressing its belief that the presidential administration was involved in distributing the false edition of the newspaper.
In response, the presidential administration filed a lawsuit against the newspaper, based on “protection of honor and dignity”. On 15 July, the Medeu District Court in Almaty delivered a ruling obliging the newspaper to retract its statement, pay 50 million tenge (approx. US$365,000) in “moral compensation” and publicly apologise.
