Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. ·Aug. 21, 2002

'PRESIDENT RUINED COUNTRY' -- "Kazakhstan's deteriorating economy has forced many pensioners … to sell their family homes and relocate to the country where housing is cheaper," reports the Washington Post. One man, identified only as Victor, 72, blames the government: "The President has ruined this country. Ordinary citizens are suffering while the royal family gets richer by the minute," he told the Post's Central Asia Diary. Aleksander Korneyev, 61, moved to the small village of Burundi because he couldn’t find a job and could no longer afford to live in his apartment in Almaty. He blames the government. "They should all be executed. The president, his family and friends, they have ruined our country with corruption," he says. "You can use my name. If they come here, I will cut their throats myself." His wife, Rosa, 70, agrees: "They are corrupt. It isn't fair, but what can we do?" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31157-2002Aug1.html

CENSORSHIP KAZAKH STYLE ­ Three police officers were briefly detained in connection with the beating of journalist Artur Platonov, who had earlier been threatened for criticizing law enforcement agencies, according to state-run Khabar television. It was the latest in "a wave of attacks against the free press in Kazakhstan," reported Agence France Presse. Platonov, a prominent reporter for the private television station, KTK, was assaulted near the entrance to his home in Almaty. Stanislav Los, deputy editor of KTK, told AFP the incident was a politically motivated "attack of intimidation, "and he pointed the finger of blame at unnamed "certain figures among the Kazakh authorities." AFP said this and similar attacks have "prompted growing uncertainty in the West over the deteriorating political climate in the oil-rich country." The assault on Platonov may be part of a power struggle inside the Nazarbayev family, since KTK-TV is rumored to be owned by the dictator's son-in-law, Rakhat Aliyev, who was fired from his post as number two in the state security services (former KGB) after reportedly plotting a coup last year. The popular host of a weekly television program, he was hospitalized with a broken nose and contusions. Almaty police said they are investigating the incident but that Platonov's injuries were probably the result of his own reckless driving and aggressive behavior. http://www.khabar.kz/news_eng/, http://www.afp.com/english/home/, http://www.cpj.org

FREE FROM UNCLE SAM -- The United States is giving the Kazakh army a number of military helicopters and 35 armored highly mobile Hummer all-terrain vehicles equipped with large caliber machine guns, Defense Minister Gen. Mukhtar Altynbayev announced. Some of the vehicles will be used by "shock groups" and other units, he said. The equipment, worth tens of millions of dollars, is being given free to the oil-rich country, Interfax reported. http://www.interfax-news.com/

GHOST RADIO -- The new, independent DAT radio station is only on the air a couple of hours a day, but it already has the Nazarbayev government worried. Vremya, a Almaty newspaper, reports that it is taken seriously in the corridors of power. The regime sees DAT as a threat to its efforts to control the flow of information to the public, but the "ghost radio" station is outside Kazakh borders and broadcasts by shortwave (31m) and on the Internet. Vremya reports DAT's programs focus on the political situation in Kazakhstan and is not afraid to publish the names of high-ranking officials in a government rife with corruption that goes to the very highest levels. The station takes its name from a an opposition newspaper, DAT, that had been closed down by the government for publishing news that displeased the regime. http://www.vremya.ru/, http://news.bbc.co.uk/, http://datradio.com/

For the full stories, see the web citations above or contact us at News@Kazakhstan21.org. The Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation promotes democracy and human rights in Kazakhstan through public affairs and educational programs in the United States and Europe. This material is distributed by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice,  Washington, D.C.