(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the investigation into the death of Internet journalist Askhat Sharipzhanov to be reopened. The organisation’s appeal came three days after an Almaty court sentenced Kanat Kalzhanov to three and a half years of hard labour for having struck the journalist with his car on 16 July 2004. Sharipzhanov died […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called for the investigation into the death of Internet journalist Askhat Sharipzhanov to be reopened. The organisation’s appeal came three days after an Almaty court sentenced Kanat Kalzhanov to three and a half years of hard labour for having struck the journalist with his car on 16 July 2004. Sharipzhanov died from his injuries five days later.
“The enquiry did not shed light on the unexplained aspects of this accident,” RSF said. “We call on Almaty Prosecutor Sattybek Ongarbaev to reopen the enquiry as it clearly ignored disturbing elements.”
On 16 July, at around 11:00 p.m. (local time), Sharipzhanov was knocked down by Kalzhanov’s car just after leaving the offices of Navigator (http://www.navi.kz), the popular, independent news website for which he worked. That same afternoon, the journalist had interviewed Altynbek Sarsenbayev, the new reformist information minister, and Zamanbek Nurkadilov, another leading opposition figure. The following day, transcripts of the interviews went missing from Sharipzhanov’s computer. His tape recorder also went missing.
“These details cast doubt on the official account of the accident,” said Navigator editor Yuri Mizinov, who is a member of an independent commission of enquiry conducted by the Journalists in Danger Fund.
Mizinov said Sharipzhanov’s injuries did not match those characteristic of traffic accidents. He had no fractures or visible injuries to the body and none of his internal organs were damaged. Sharipzhanov died from a cerebral haemorrhage caused by cranial trauma. This could have been the result of a violent blow to the back of the head, whereas the car struck him head on. Furthermore, an autopsy showed no signs of alcohol in his blood, contradicting the official claim that he was drunk at the time of the accident.
