Journalists attacked in Kazakhstan since 1992
Kazakh police assault, injure journalist Saniya Toiken covering protests in Nur-Sultan
New York, October 26, 2020 – Kazakh authorities should immediately and thoroughly investigate the assault on journalist Saniya Toiken, punish the perpetrators, and ensure that members of the press can work safely in Kazakhstan. On October 24, Kazakh police officers assaulted Toiken, correspondent for Radio Azattyq, the Kazakh service of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio…
Kazakhstan decriminalizes defamation, but maintains detentions, criminal penalties for speech offenses
New York, July 8, 2020 — Kazakhstan authorities should deepen their reforms on laws affecting the press and ensure that journalists are never jailed for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On June 27, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed into law amendments to the country’s criminal and administrative codes that decriminalized defamation, according…
Kazakh journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov jailed on criminal libel charges
New York, October 18, 2019 – Kazakhstan authorities should immediately release journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov, drop all charges against him, and allow him to work freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Kazakhstan’s move to control internet prompts censorship, surveillance concerns
A state-controlled internet service provider in Kazakhstan is requiring at least some of its subscribers to submit to having their internet traffic intercepted when they use specific websites–including social media sites, email and messaging services, and Google News, according to research published this week by Censored Planet, a project at the University of Michigan.
Demonstrators attack reporters, damage equipment at press conference in Kazakhstan
Washington, D.C., July 25, 2019 — Kazakhstan authorities should immediately investigate the attack on journalists at a press conference in Almaty and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Kazakhstan government-backed security certificate raises censorship, surveillance concerns
New York, July 22, 2019 — Telecommunications providers in Kazakhstan’s capital, Nur-Sultan, have requested internet users to install a security certificate issued by government authorities onto their personal devices, which could compromise their digital security, according to a report by the BBC and Adil Nurmakov, a political scientist and digital media expert based in Nur-Sultan,…
Nazarbayev’s long rule leaves toxic legacy for Kazakhstan’s media
In 2011, I observed an astonishing spectacle in the Respublika newspaper offices in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s financial capital. Journalists were putting a modern-day twist on samizdat, a practice in the Soviet Union whereby dissidents laboriously copied illicit material to circumvent censorship.
Kazakhstan detains French journalist and bans him from filming
New York, September 27, 2018–Kazakh authorities should allow French journalist Vincent Prado and his local fixer Danara Ismetova to work without obstruction, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Prado and Ismetova were briefly detained by police this morning, before a judge fined Prado and banned the journalist from filming in the Manghystau region of Kazakhstan,…
CPJ joins calls for Kazakhstan to revise false news law and drop charges against critical media
The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined a coalition of 25 other international press freedom organizations to call on Kazakh authorities to drop criminal defamation cases against media outlets Forbes Kazakhstan and Ratel and revise the law on dissemination of “false information” often used to silence critical media outlets and journalists.