Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. ·Nov. 20, 2003

'GAG RULING -- The editor of Kazakhstan's leading independent newspaper, SolDat, has been banned from practicing journalism for five years and given a one-year suspended jail sentence on charges unrelated to his writing, reports RFE/RL. Ermurat Bapi, editor in chief of SolDat, was prosecuted for tax evasion and illegal business dealings, a common charge employed by the Nazarbayev regime to muzzle its critics, including journalists, regional governors and members of the opposition. The government has been the target of widespread international criticism for its media repression, but it has managed to shrug that off with little consequence. This was the 17th time Bapi had been hauled into Nazarbayev's puppet courts. He insisted during his latest trial that there was "no hint of proof in the five volumes of evidence" prosecutors produced, calling the court ruling "politically motivated." The ban is unprecedented, RFE/RL reports. One observer at the trial, Khairullo Adam-Uly, a prominent social commentator, said there did not appear to be sufficient evidence to support the charges, but "the judge was simply carrying out orders from above" by rendering what was "clearly a politically motivated decision" to silence Bapi in advance of nest year's parliamentary elections. http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2003/11/19112003154247.asp

COLD FEET, NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT -- Faced with the prospect of some tough questions and potential public humiliation, President Nazarbayev abruptly canceled plans to go to Vienna this week to address the OSCE Permanent Council. Officially the Kazakh dictator came down with a chest cold, but it was more like a case of cold feet. His national security advisor and advanceman for the trip, Bulat Utemuratov, told the boss to stay home after learning that he faced serious confrontations with several delegations, including the U.S. and the EU, over human rights abuses,the lack of democratic reform and other issues. Nazarbayev didn’t want to face American and European delegates, who planned to demand the release of jailed independent journalist Sergey Duvanov. They were also planning to tell him to stop talking about reform and start taking some serious measures, or he can forget about chairing the OSCE in 2009. VOD sources report Kazakh opposition members, headed by Amirzhan Kossanov, met in Vienna with OSCE delegates earlier this month to urge them to confront Nazarbayev on the Duvanov case, human rights abuses, absence of the rule of law and other issues. In the end, Nazarbayev decided to check himself into a hospital with a diplomatic cold and spend his time issuing decrees and changing the names of public holidays.

YES, I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU, TOO --President Bush's impassioned call for spreading democracy to the Muslim world was not aimed solely at Arabs but countries like oil-rich Kazakhstan, and two top State Department officials personally delivered that message last week. Lorne Craner, the assistance secretary for human rights, and Elizabeth Jones, the top diplomat for Central Asia, went to "make sure the Bush administration's war on terrorism doesn't overshadow human rights," reported National Public Radio. High on their agenda was the case of Sergei Duvanov, the prominent journalist jailed on trumped up charges of rape but really imprisoned for writing about oil corruption at the highest levels of the Kazakh government. Craner, in typical diplomatic understatement, called the case indicative of a country with an unfair judicial process. Jones told NPR that the U.S. government will not be swayed by Kazakh pressure to drop the Kazakhgate corruption investigation that reportedly reaches right up Nazarbayev himself. In fact, she noted, it stands as an example of the difference between the United States and Kazakhstan because it is "part of our rule of law advocacy." It will be resolved on the basis of law, not politics, she explained. NPR noted that Kazakhstan has hired expensive lobbyists and lawyers "to spruce up its image in Washington" to counter those in the State Department like Craner and Jones who are critical of the Nazarbayev regime's record. http://www.npr.org/rundowns/segment.php?wfId=1499287

For the full stories, see the web citations above or contact us at News@Kazakhstan21.org or see VOD Archives [http://iicas.org/english/enlibrary/libr_16_03_01kp.htm]. 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.

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