The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on authorities in Kazakhstan to release journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov and reform the country's laws to remove prison sentences for defamation.
Batyrbekov was sentenced to 20 days in jail on July 3 over a March 10 Facebook post accusing a parliamentary deputy of corruption.
"The 20-day prison sentence for Kazakh journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov, who has been frequently targeted with defamation charges and even attempted murder for his reporting, is deeply troubling," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said was quoted as saying in a statement issued July 10.
"Kazakh authorities should free Batyrbekov immediately and reform their defamation laws to ensure that journalists are not jailed for their reporting," Said added.
Batyrbekov has rejected the charges and said he plans to appeal the verdict.
Batyrbekov alleged in the Facebook post that parliamentary deputy Bolatbek Nazhmetdinuly was connected to corruption cases. In particular, he highlighted a 2019 fraud case where he said Nazhmetdinuly was allegedly a suspect and that police had "mysteriously closed" the proceedings.
The rights group Adil Soz said in a statement last week that during the trial, Batyrbekov produced documents to back up his claim. However, a signatory to the documents denied signing them, and said Nazhmetdinuly was a witness and not a suspect.
Batyrbekov, who was sentenced in 2019 to two years and three months in prison on insult and defamation charges, and also survived a January 2022 assassination attempt allegedly organized by a local official in retaliation for his reporting, believes authorities falsified the document.
"The court did not establish any motive for disseminating deliberately false information about the deputy by the journalist," Adil Soz said in the statement, noting at the time he published his report, Batyrbekov was "convinced" of its authenticity, "which was confirmed by the decision of the investigator in his possession."