KAZAKHSTAN: JANUARY 27 MEDIA ROUNDUP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ALMATY 000379



SIPDIS



SENSITIVE



SIPDIS



STATE FOR EUR/CACEN (JMUDGE),EUR/PPD (JBASEDOW),EUR/ACE

(ESMITH/JMCKANE),DRL/PHD (CKUCHTA-HELBLING)



E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KPAO, KDEM, KZ

SUBJ: KAZAKHSTAN: JANUARY 27 MEDIA ROUNDUP



Ref: A) Almaty 49; B) Almaty 158; C) 05 Almaty 4175; D) 05



Almaty 3453



1. (SBU) SUMMARY. This is the latest in a series of cables

reporting on developments among Kazakhstan's media. On

January 1 the Dauir printing firm refused to print several

opposition newspapers, due to what Dauir said was the need

to swap out its equipment. Vremya Print, which had printed

the papers until September 26, 2005, took over as printer.

Respublika won the legal right to publish its Assandi Times

version, while fighting another court action to close down

its current owner. Television stations ignored opposition

leader Galymzhan Zhakiyanov's January 15 homecoming and his

January 17 press conference. The majority shareholder of

the highest circulation weekly newspaper Vremya was

reportedly pressured to sell his shares to an alleged front

man for Marat Tazhin, the President's deputy head of

administration. END SUMMARY.



2. (SBU) Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, the opposition leader who

spent more than three and a half years in prison on

politically-motivated charges, arrived at a train station

in Almaty on January 15 to a hero's welcome from a crowd of

300-600 people (Ref B). Western wire services and local

newspapers provided broad coverage of the event, but no

Kazakhstani television station covered it. There was also

no local coverage of Zhakiyanov's January 17 press

conference even though more than 10 TV crews were pressed

into the standing room only event. Gul'zhan Yergaliyeva,

editor of opposition weekly Svoboda Slova, questioned why

the TV crews showed up, adding that she knew they would not

report on the event.



Assandi Times, aka Respublika, Wins One in Court

-------------- ---



3. (U) Respublika, the opposition paper registered

simultaneously under several different names, won a court

victory on January 18, when the Supreme Court ruled against

the Information Ministry's order to liquidate the paper's

Assandi Times version. However, on September 26, the

Almaty procurator declared that all issues of Respublika,

including the versions known as Syet.kz; Ekonomika, Finasy,

Rynki; Pyatoye Izmereniye; and Assandi Times, were illegal

and subject to confiscation. Separate appeals were filed

for all versions and Assandi Times was the last on the

list. The others were all liquidated.



4. (SBU) In an interview with the opposition website

kub.kz, independent journalist Sergey Duvanov said he

believes Assandi Times won its case only because the

presidential elections were over. In his view, the paper

had lost its pre-election significance when it was a

campaign tool for the opposition. Emboff asked Respublika

lawyer Sergey Utkin why the Assandi Times had been allowed

to publish, while other versions had not. He said he did

not know the reason, and was puzzled by the decision.



Latest Move in Respublika's Ownership Shell Game

-------------- ---



5. (U) Meanwhile, the Astana procurator's office has filed

a lawsuit in Almaty's inter-district economic court to

close down the owner of Respublika's latest version,

"Pravo. Ekonomika. Politika. Kultura." (PEPK). The legal

owner of PEPK is a public foundation known as "The Public

Committee for the Fight against Corruption." The

procurator alleges the foundation engaged in activities

inappropriate for an NGO, and that are rightfully the tasks

of law enforcement agencies. If the procurator wins the

lawsuit against the foundation, then by law the

registration certificate for PEPK would be annulled, and

PEPK would have to stop publishing.



6. (U) To prevent that possibility, PEPK editors persuaded

the foundation before the new year to transfer ownership to

PEPK's editorial offices. As required by law, they duly

informed the Information Ministry of the ownership transfer

in an open letter to Yermukhamet Yertysbayev, the newly



ALMATY 00000379 002 OF 003





appointed Minister of Culture, Information and Sport, in an

open letter on the front page of PEPK's January 20 issue.



Vremya Print Gets Opposition Papers back from Dauir Print

-------------- --------------



7. (U) Dauir Print, the printing house reputedly owned by

Svetlana Nazarbayeva, the President's sister-in-law,

stopped printing several opposition newspapers on January

1. The company said the action was necessary to swap out

its equipment. Kazakhstani media rights advocates and the

U.S. media advocacy organization Committee to Protect

Journalists argued the real reason was to stop publishing

newspapers that often criticized President Nazarbayev.



8. (U) Vremya Print, part of the holding company of the

weekly newspaper by the same name, took over printing

Svoboda Slova, Apta KZ and Epokha; Business Info took over

printing PEPK. As reported Ref C, Vremya Print had printed

opposition papers until September 26, when opposition

editors claim the firm was pressured by authorities into

refusing the print contracts.



Administration Allegedly Behind Take-Over of Vremya

-------------- --------------



9. (SBU) Vremya's deputy editor-in-chief Marat Asipov told

emboff January 26 that Nulzhan Subhanberdin, the paper's

majority shareholder and director of Kazkommertsbank (KKB),

was pressured into selling his share to a "front man" for

Marat Tazhin, the deputy head of the presidential

administration. When pressed, he declined to name the

buyer, and said only that it was a name not known in the

media community. (Comment: While Asipov's allegation that

Tazhin is the real owner cannot be verified, the desire to

own such a prize media property as Vremya is

understandable. Vremya has the highest circulation

(180,000) of any newspaper in Kazakhstan. It is judged by

media peers to have the most professional reporters and

highest reportorial ethics and standards. End comment.)



10. (SBU) The players and the plays in the Vremya buyout

follow the Karavan scenario of the late 1990's. Before

founding Vremya in 1999, editor-in-chief Igor Meltzer

headed the tabloid Karavan (circulation 220,000),which was

likewise an influential and respected news outlet under his

stewardship. In 1997 Rakhat Aliyev, then-head of the tax

police and husband of Dariga Nazarbayeva, the President's

eldest daughter, bought Karavan. He subsequently turned it

into a pro-government, anti-opposition tabloid.



11. (SBU) Asipov said he anticipates the new owner wants

"to turn Vremya into another Karavan." Asipov said Meltzer

has already registered a new publication with the

Information Ministry, and is ready to start a new paper if

Vremya's new owner tries to exert too much control. Though

not willing to speculate too far in advance, Asipov

believes the prospective publication would be printed by

Vremya Print, in which Subhanberdin retains his majority

stake.



12. (SBU) COMMENT: The Assandi Times court victory is a

positive development. However, Kazakhstani authorities

show no signs of relinquishing their influence over media.

The television blackouts of opposition leader Zhakiyanov's

return and first press conference indicate the

administration's willingness to interfere with broadcast

media. Regarding Vremya, the allegation that Presidential

advisor Tazhin is the paper's new owner remains

unsubstantiated. It's also unclear if the buyout of the

newspaper is an attempt to bring it under government

control. Should the latter turn out to be the case, Vremya

editor Meltzer will probably start up a new paper, most

likely with financial backing from Subhandberdin. Meltzer

has shown in the past that he is gifted at -starting up

profitable, informative, and entertaining newspapers that

also present a variety of views to their readership. End

comment.





ALMATY 00000379 003 OF 003





Ordway