(Adil Soz/IFEX) – On 3 July 2006, the Medeu district court in Almaty held preliminary hearings in the case against opposition politician and writer Zhasaral Kuanyshalin on charges of “public insult or other infringement upon the honour and dignity of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the use of the mass information media”, […]
(Adil Soz/IFEX) – On 3 July 2006, the Medeu district court in Almaty held preliminary hearings in the case against opposition politician and writer Zhasaral Kuanyshalin on charges of “public insult or other infringement upon the honour and dignity of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the use of the mass information media”, under Article 318 of the Criminal Code.
The charges against Kuanyshalin have been brought by the National Security Committee, following his 5 October 2005 statement accusing President Nazarbayev of high treason.
Kuanyshalin had also filed a formal report to the Office of the General Prosecutor seeking treason charges against the president. In his report, Kuanyshalin claimed the president had betrayed Kazakhstan by saying that “Kazakhs were historically a borderless nation, lacking statehood,” in his annual address to the nation.
Kuanyshalin denies the charges. If found guilty, he could face up to three years in prison.
Article 318 also stipulates: “Public speeches containing critical remarks concerning policies carried out by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall not entail criminal liability under this Article.” “Article 318 of the Criminal Code is regularly used to silence criticism of the President,” Adil Soz Foundation President Tamara Kaleyeva said.
In a separate development, on 29 June, the National Security Committee started a criminal investigation of journalist Kazis Toguzbayev, charged with “insulting the honour and dignity of the president” (see IFEX alert of 29 June 2006).
