OPPOSITION PAPER OUTMANEUVERS AUTHORITIES IN

UNCLAS ALMATY 001953 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR EUR/CACEN (JMUDGE),EUR/PPD (JBASEDOW),EUR/ACE (MO'NEAL/ESMITH),DRL/PHD (PDAVIS) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO KDEM KZ POLITICAL SUBJECT: OPPOSITION PAPER OUTMANEUVERS AUTHORITIES IN LATEST BATTLE Ref: A) Almaty 545; B) Almaty 794 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. On May 5, the information ministry ordered Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan's (DCK) weekly newspaper "Respublika: Business Review" to stop publishing. It revoked the weekly's registration after filing suit in February following Respublica's republication of the transcript of an interview with Russian ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovskiy. The ministry said the article incited inter-ethnic discord, and undermined national security. After a series of legal maneuvers, the paper re- appeared as Syet'.kz on May 13, and foiled ministry attempts to confiscate printed copies May 20. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) On May 4, the Committee of Information and Archives of the Ministry of Culture, Information, and Sport ordered the weekly Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK) newspaper Respublika: Business Review (circulation 40,000) to stop publishing, and revoked its registration. The committee's decree followed two previous court rulings demanding the liquidation of the newspaper's parent company, Bastau, Ltd. The first ruling against Bastau was handed down on March 25 by Almaty's inter-district economic court; Almaty's municipal court upheld the original ruling May 4 on appeal. -------------- -------------- Respublika: Public Needed to Know Zhirinovskiy's Comments -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The information ministry filed suit February 25 against Respublika for printing the transcript of a January 18 Ekho Moskviy interview with Russian Duma vice speaker Vladimir Zhirinovskiy. In the interview Zhirinovskiy said that Kazakhstan was legally Russian territory, and that Kazakh was an invented language. The ministry claimed Respublika's article propagandized "the ethnic superiority of one nationality over another and undermined the territorial integrity and national security of Kazakhstan." Respublika's preface to their January 20 transcript said the public had a right to know what Zhirinovskiy was saying, and should think about how such remarks might affect Russian-Kazakhstani relations in the future. Deputy editor-in-chief Galina Dyrdina said the paper was simply performing its duty to inform the public. -------------- - Info Ministry Decides to "Shoot the Messenger" -------------- - ¶4. (SBU) Public and official outrage against Zhirinovskiy played out in a series of events over the course of a month, culminating in the ministry's "shoot the messenger" lawsuit. On January 30 angry citizens in Almaty demonstrated in front of the Russian consulate and burned copies of the interview; February 2 Majilis (lower house of parliament) deputies issued a formal statement condemning Zhirinovskiy; February 9 Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General asked his Russian counterpart to punish Zhirinovsky for inciting ethnic hatred between Russians and Kazakhs and for insulting the dignity of the Kazakh people; February 10 Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared Zhirinovskiy persona non grata; and February 25 the information ministry filed suit. -------------- Respublika Maneuvers to Survive -------------- ¶5. (SBU) While the information ministry was pursuing its case in the courts, Respublika employed legal maneuvers of its own to ensure its survival. On March 14, eight days before the inter-district economic court ruling, the newspaper's managers legally transferred ownership from Bastau, Ltd. to New Pi Ar, Ltd. When the city court on appeal ordered the liquidation of Bastau on May 4, that company was no longer the newspaper's owner. Moreover, the ruling against Bastau did not specifically order the paper not to publish. As for the information ministry's decree, Respublika lawyer Sergey Utkin said the information ministry does not have the legal authority to close the paper because, per article 13 of the law on mass media, only a newspaper's owner or the court has the authority to do that. -------------- "Who Needed to Close Respublika?" -------------- ¶6. (SBU) After the decision by the information ministry, Respublika took a week off, then re-appeared May 13 under the name, Syet'.kz ("net"). A front page article headlined, "Who Needed to Close Respublika?", claimed that efforts to close the paper were retaliation for articles alleging that Almaty akim (and former prime minister) Imangali Tasmagambetov and Otan party deputy chairman Amangeldi Yermegiyaev had embezzled funds from the state railroad enterprise, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ). Previous articles reported on payments from the Russian government to Kazakhstan for renting the Baikonur space complex in Kazakhstan. Under the terms of the rental agreement, Russia was to deliver $65 million worth of railroad construction equipment to KTZ. According to the reports, the goods actually delivered were worth much less, and Kazakhstani government officials who administered the deal pocketed the difference. ¶7. The following week, city police attempted to block distribution of the May 20 issue of Syet'.kz for several hours, ostensibly because the paper was not registered with the information ministry. Once again, the paper outwitted the authorities. Syet'.kz registered with the information ministry late in 2003 and, as required by law, issued one paper in 2004 within six months of registering, and sent a copy to the ministry. In the end, the May 20 edition was distributed, when Utkin produced the official ministry receipt of 2004 issue. ¶8. (SBU). COMMENT: Observers have no doubt that the attempts to silence Respublika are politically-motivated, following the court orders closing DCK (reftel A) and Soz, another DCK paper (reftel B). The information ministry's lawsuit was seen as a flimsy pretext, criticized by Kazakhstani and international media advocates and even pro- government political leaders. Whether the latest lawsuit was tied to the paper's investigative reporting is unproven. ¶9. (SBU) COMMENT Cont'd: The paper known variously as Respublika, Assandi Times, Respublika: Business Review and now Syet'.kz will continue to publish and provoke, but the question is, what the provocations will yield next. In 2004 the Assandi Times was hit with a 50 million tenge ($370,000) fine - the largest ever awarded - for "defaming the reputation of the presidential administration." In 2002 editor-in-chief Irina Petrushova fled to Russia after the newspaper's Almaty offices were firebombed and a dog's head with a threatening note was left at her home. Last month Petrushova was detained for tax evasion for two days in Russia at the request of Kazakhstani authorities. She was released following wide reporting of the arrest, and after the Moscow prosecutor said she was being detained improperly. In the course of these battles the paper has become the standard bearer for Kazakhstan's opposition media, and attracted the attention of national and international media advocates that publicize each encounter. Whatever happens next, media advocates will be watching and sounding the alarm. ¶10. (U) Minimize for Dushanbe considered. Asquino NNNN