Watchdog

A court in Kazakhstan has ordered the closure of an independent magazine that has scrutinized the authorities over human rights issues and corruption.

The editors of "Adam bol" (Be a Human) say the Almaty court's decision to shut the periodical's print and online platforms was delivered to them on November 20.

The Almaty mayor's office told RFE/RL that the periodical was closed due to the magazine's violation of laws "banning the propagation of forceful change in the country's constitutional structure, threating its territorial integrity and security, as well as inciting ethnic, religious and social hatred."

Last year, publishing houses in Almaty, Kazakhstan's biggest city, refused to print the periodical -- which then was called "Adam Reader's," after it reported on the deadly clashes between police and protesting oil workers in the western town of Zhanaozen.

The periodical is led by Gulzhan Erghalieva (eds: a woman), a prominent journalist who has faced numerous intimidations by police in many years.

Authorties in Kyrgyzstan have arrested 11 people on suspicion of bride-snatching, an offense that was rarely prosecuted in the past.

Bishkek city police said on November 20 that six men were arrested on the basis of a complaint by a 40-year-old woman in the capital who accused them of abducting her sister for a forced marriage.

Also on November 20, officials in the northern city of Tokmok said that five local residents had been arrested for allegedly abducting an 18-year-old woman for a forced marriage.

Rights activists say about 12,000 Kyrgyz women and girls are kidnapped and forced into marriage every year.

In 2012, the government launched a campaign against the traditional practice and increased the potential punishment to 10 years in prison.

Some 20 probes into cases related to bride-snatching were launched in Kyrgyzstan last year.