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Kazakhstan

RSF Condemn Court's Order Against Journalist

Lukpan Akhmedyarov

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By RFE/RL

July 30, 2012

International rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned a Kazakh court's decision to financially punish an opposition journalist in a controversial libel case.

In a statement, the organization called the court's July 20 ruling a move "to strangle the journalist financially."

Lukpan Akhmedyarov was found guilty of insulting a local official in West Kazakhstan Oblast and ordered to pay the official 5 million tenge ($33,000).

In April, Akhmedyarov, a correspondent for the "Uralskaya nedelya" weekly in the western city of Oral, survived a vicious attack in which he was stabbed and shot with a pneumatic pistol.

Akhmedyarov says both the lawsuit and the attack against him are politically motivated.

Paramedics carry the injured Akhemdyarov into a hospital in Oral on April 19.

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by: William Courtney from: Washington DC

July 31, 2012 10:58

Fining a journalist $33,000 for insulting a public official Is disproportionate, especially for an action that in a democracy would not be punishable at all. Further, to do this in western Kazakhstan is short-sighted. The central authorities do not seem to understand how much legitimacy they have lost in the western part of the country. The tragic killing and wounding of large numbers of unarmed protesters in Zhanaozen last December 16, and the insensitive response by central authorities, have dismayed not only people in this region but many thoughtful citizens across the country.

Journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov is a profile in courage. By physically beating him and then having the effrontery to levy a heavy fine on him, the authorities are turning Akhmedyarov into an international martyr.