The Week in Kazakhstan: Ramping Up the Pressure

(Un)civil Society On August 18, an Almaty court sentenced Gulnar Bazhkenova, the former editor-in-chief of Orda.kz, to eight years in prison, though the first two years of this term has been suspended due to her having a child under the age of 14.After being found guilty of criminally disseminating false information, embezzlement, and illegal entrepreneurship, she was also barred from engaging in public life and journalism for five years.Bazhkenova denies all the charges against her.The following day, the International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a strong condemnation of the verdict against Bazhkenova, writing that they believe her sentencing was part of a wider “crackdowns” on the Kazakhstani media ahead of the August 24 parliamentary elections. [Read more here.] On August 13, the IPHR and CPJ were among seven other human rights and press freedom organizations, including Kazakhstan’s Adil Soz and International Bureau for Human Rights, that published a joint letter to Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, urging him to help halt the “recent wave” of journalist arrests in Kazakhstan, ensure free coverage of the Kurultai elections, and help end the blocking of social media accounts belonging to prominent journalists, news outlets, and press freedom groups On August 17, Aida Balaeva, Kazakhstan’s deputy Prime Minister and minister of culture and information, said that her ministry does not block the social media accounts of media outlets, journalists, or bloggers.She also called reports of mass account blocks an attempt to discredit the state, and pledged that freedom of speech would not be restricted in the fight against “illegal content.” Four days later, stand-up comedian Galym Kaliakbarov had a performance scheduled for August 21 cancelled.The show’s organizers, Almaty’s Central Stand Up Club, cited reasons beyond their control and promised to refund ticket prices.On August 20, Kaliakbarov also had a show interrupted in Astana.Authorities say the gig’s organizers failed to notify them of the event 10 days in advance, as is required by law in order to “ensure the safety of citizens.”