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.
Kazakhstan police raid newsrooms, detain journalists, seize equipment
New York, April 13, 2018–Kazakh authorities should stop harassing journalists with the independent news outlets Forbes Kazakhstan and Ratel and dismiss criminal defamation suits against the two outlets and their journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Kazakh editor convicted of money laundering, banned from journalism
New York, September 7, 2017–A Kazakh court today handed down a suspended prison sentence to Zhanbolat Mamay, editor of the independent newspaper Sayasi kalam/Tribuna, for charges of money laundering, and banned him from working as a journalist for three years, according to media reports. Mamay said he plans to appeal.
Journalist and press freedom defender stabbed in Kazakhstan
New York, May 15, 2017–Kazakh authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate yesterday’s stabbing of journalist and press freedom defender Ramazan Yesergepov and should bring all those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesergepov, who spent three years in prison for his work as an editor and who now runs the press…
Editor arrested in Kazakhstan
New York, February 13, 2017–Kazakh authorities should immediately release Zhanbolat Mamay, editor of the independent newspaper Sayasi kalam/Tribuna, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police arrested Mamay, an outspoken government critic, in the capital Almaty on February 10, on suspicion of money laundering, Kazakh and regional media reported.
Turkey’s crackdown propels number of journalists in jail worldwide to record high
At least 81 journalists are imprisoned in Turkey, all of them facing anti-state charges, in the wake of an unprecedented crackdown that has included the shuttering of more than 100 news outlets. The 259 journalists in jail worldwide is the highest number recorded since 1990. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
Kazakh journalists face years in prison on retaliatory charges
New York, September 30, 2016– Kazakh authorities should immediately drop all charges against Seytkazy Matayev, head of the Kazakh Journalists’ Union and chair of the National Press Club of Kazakhstan, and his son Aset Matayev, director of the independent news agency KazTag, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. A verdict in their trial is…
Kazakhstan court sentences journalist to jail over reports on bank
New York, May 23, 2016–A Kazakhstan court today convicted and sentenced Guzyal Baydalinova, the editor of the independent news website Nakanune, to a year and a half in prison for deliberately distributing false information, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the verdict and calls for Baydalinova’s immediate release.