Media freedom groups urge Kazakhstan’s president to drop charges against journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists and five other international press freedom and human rights groups have urged Kazakhstan’s president to drop criminal charges against several journalists placed under house arrest and revise the country’s legislation to ensure press freedom.

In their letter sent Monday to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, they raised concern over what they described as a “recent spate of arrests of journalists and an escalating pattern of harassment of independent media in Kazakhstan.”

The letter drew attention to the cases of prominent independent journalists Gulnara Bazhkenova, Amir Kasenov, Aset Matayev and Botagoz Omarova, who have been placed under house arrests pending trials, noting that a “rising tide of harassment is rendering the work of independent Kazakh media increasingly difficult.”

The groups urged Tokayev to ensure that all journalists prosecuted for their work are released and the charges against them dropped. They also pushed for a loosening of laws on distributing false information, to ensure press freedom.

The CPJ and five other organizations noted that the government has denied accreditation for months for dozens of journalists from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and has blocked the news outlet ResPublika in moves that ”appeared to have little justification beyond a desire to obstruct these outlets’ reporting.”

They also noted that “dozens of prominent journalists, news outlets, and press freedom groups have in recent months reported having their social media accounts and posts blocked or removed following spurious and apparently orchestrated complaints.”

“Mr. President, collectively these attacks on the press threaten to create a climate of fear and self-censorship that irreparably undermines the credibility of your reform agenda,” they said.

Tokayev’s office declined to comment on the letter.

Last month, constitutional changes initiated by Tokayev won overwhelming approval in a referendum, cementing his grip on power in Central Asia’s largest country.

The 72-year-old Tokayev, a former Soviet official and Kazakhstani diplomat who previously served at the U.N., is currently limited to one seven-year term until 2029. Analysts believe Tokayev could use the referendum to reset presidential term limits.

Tokayev, who has maintained a delicate balance between Moscow and the West since the imposition of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, has cast the constitutional changes as a response to the need to make quick decisions in a rapidly changing world.