Watchdog

The chief editor of a celebrity magazine in Kazakhstan has been fined $1,200 for devoting last month's issue to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

An Almaty court on May 11 found Zharylqap Qalybai guilty of failing to reveal exactly which publishing house printed the last three issues of his monthly magazine, "Zhuldyzdar Otbasy-Anyz Adam" (Celebrities Family-Legendary People).

Qalybai said he did not agree with the court decision, calling it politically motivated.

Kazakhstan's State Agency for Communications and Information initiated investigations last month into the April issue of "Zhuldyzdar Otbasy-Anyz Adam," which was fully devoted to Hitler's life and political activities.

The issue carried a color photograph of Hitler on its cover and contained memories of Hitler from his associates and friends.

It also included excerpts from Hitler's controversial book "Mein Kampf."

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has signed an antidiscrimination bill into law.

The law went into force after it was published on the state online registry of legal acts on May 7.

Meanwhile, on May 6, the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II, said of the bill that the legalization of "illegality is a huge sin" and it will be rejected by believers, as it includes "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" on the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination.

The legislation was adopted by lawmakers on May 2.

Adoption of the antidiscrimination law is one of the requirements that Georgia has undertaken under its Visa Liberalization Action Plan in order to be granted short-term visa-free regime by the European Union.

With reporting by civil.ge