The Astana Court of Appeal upheld the decision to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a group of journalists against Kazakhstan’s ministry of culture and information regarding a restrictive provision in the new law on mass media.
On January 23, a panel of judges confirmed a court sentence from last November that dismissed the journalists’ claim that the new law would threaten the work of journalists, who will now be confined to work “only for the media organization with which they have obtained accreditation.”
Several journalists work for more than one media outlet and the claimants said this option would now be limited, should they fail to obtain accreditation with each outlet. For violations of accreditation rules, journalists risk a six-month suspension.
The government’s side said the provisions do not restrict the dissemination of information, because they do not include social media networks.
Since before it was passed in August last year, the new media law was sharply criticized by journalists across Kazakhstan, as top officials continue to dodge their questions and their work is constantly under threat of legal sanctions.
In a 2024 report, Human Rights Watch said the new law “threatens freedom of speech and access to government officials.”
Last December, minister Aida Balayeva said in an interview with state-run Kazakhstanskaya Pravda that the journalists who had filed the lawsuit “openly hated government officials.”
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