KAZAKHSTANI MEDIA DEVELOPMENTS MAY-JULY 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 002192 SIPDIS STATE FOR INR/R/MR, SCA/CEN (MO'MARA),SCA/PPD (LHICKOCK),DRL/PHD (CKUCHTA-HELBLING) SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO KDEM KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTANI MEDIA DEVELOPMENTS MAY-JULY 2007 Ref: Astana 918 ¶1. (SBU) Summary of media developments: --As reported in local media, Bulat Utermuratov, head of management affairs in Kazakhstan's presidential administration, and Armanzhan Baitasov, Channel 31 president, each plan to sell 25 percent of Channel 31, Kazakhstan's most objective television station, to the commercial entertainment network Russian STS. Two of the station's popular news analysis programs were discontinued just before the advent of campaigning for the August 18 Kazakhstani parliamentary elections, and the station will not broadcast analytical news programs again until September. --On June 19, the progressive Vremya newspaper sued Minister of Information and Culture Yermukhament Yertysbayev for his derogatory comments about Vremya journalists (see reftel). The court threw out the lawsuit (which Vremya is appealing) but partially granted a countersuit filed by the minister for moral damages he attributed to a Vremya article criticizing him. --On May 24, KTK TV's broadcasts and Karavan weekly newspaper were suspended for alleged violations of a media law and release of sensitive information regarding a criminal case thought to have involved the media's owner, Rakhat Aliyev. Broadcasting resumed on June 4. On June 6, former presidential administration official Arman Shurayev confirmed his appointment as the new head of the KTK TV Company. Russian Company Buys Channel 31 -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On July 19, the opposition newspaper Vzglyad reported rumors that Bulat Utermuratov, head of management affairs in Kazakhstan's presidential administrations, owned a large share of the media company that owns centrist television state Channel 31 and planned to sell at least part of his holdings to Russian STS, a huge commercial entertainment network. Utermuratov and Channel 31 President Armanzhan Baitasov, according to sources at Channel 31, will each sell 25 percent of the company to Russian STS. Sources stated that it was unclear whether the company's other media outlets, including the newspaper Megapolys, would be affected by the sale. ¶3. (SBU) Vzglyad reported that the sale might be connected to the discontinuation of popular news analysis programs "Tochki nad I" (Dotting the "I") and "Tsentr Vnimaniya" (Center of Attention), which were removed from Channel 31's program schedule just before the advent of campaigning for the August 18 parliamentary elections. However, Channel 31 sources have indicated that the sale of Channel 31, the most objective of Kazakhstani broadcasters, appears to be purely a business transaction, not a politically motivated event. ¶4. (SBU) Sources at Channel 31 said that the sale was official, and that final negotations would take place in September. The objective and news-oriented station will become more focused on entertainment, said Channel 31 sources, reflecting the format of the Russian channel that will own 50 percent of the station. Although "Tochki nad I" and "Tsentr Vnimaniya" will not be put back on the air, sources noted, producers are currently developing a new format and content for news and analysis programs and plan to begin broadcasting in September. Newspaper Vremya Takes Minister to Court -------------- ¶5. (U) The progressive newspaper Vremya on July 24 appealed an Astana district court ruling that threw out its lawsuit against the minister of information and culture. Vremya, Kazakhstan's most popular nationwide newspaper, filed its lawsuit on June 19, alleging defamation as a result of the minister's remarks characterizing the paper's reporters as "scoundrels, frauds, and telekillers" and demanded a public apology. Minister Yertysbayev threatened to file a countersuit unless Vremya dropped its case and agreed to reach a settlement, which enraged Vremya, leading it to increase its demands for damages to 2 million tenge ($16,528). The court threw out Vremya's lawsuit, ruling Minister Yertysbayev's statement as "an expression of his subjective and ethical opinion" and not damaging to the reporters' reputations. Minister Files Defamation Countersuit -------------- ¶6. (U) Minister Yertysbayev filed his countersuit on June 26, demanding 5 million tenge ($41,322) for moral damages he attributed to a Vremya article criticizing him for not paying enough attention to culture, specifically, the budgetary problems of the Almaty Ballet School. The court ordered Vremya and its editor-in-chief to each pay the minister 5,000 tenge ($41). Commenting on his court ASTANA 00002192 002 OF 002 victory, Yertysbayev stated in Liter newspaper that it does not really matter who won, as the more important thing is the court sentencing the newspaper to pay only 10,000 tenge because this precedent can now be used to stop multimillion tenge claims against Kazakhstani mass media (like the one Mr. Yertysbayev filed). Fate of Rakhat Aliyev's KTK TV and Karavan Newspaper -------------- -------------- ¶7. (U) On May 24, the day after police ordered the investigation of President Nazarbayev's son-in-law and Ambassador to Austria Rakhat Aliyev for the January 2007 kidnapping of two executives of Nurbank, a bank owned by Aliyev, an Almaty court suspended the weekly tabloid Karavan and television channel KTK, also owned by Aliyev. ¶8. (U) Although the court did not explicitly state its reasons for suspending the media, among the most popular in Kazakhstan, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported that on May 22, the Almaty prosecutor's office warned KTK not to violate a media law requiring equal air time for Russian and Kazakh language programming and particularly not to "report details of the investigation into Nurbank-related criminal cases without the investigator's explicit permission." Earlier in May, Karavan had published a series of articles criticizing Interior Affairs Minister Baurzhan Mukhamedzhanov and Almaty Mayor Imangali Tasmagambetov for "kidnapping" KTK employees who were taken in for questioning regarding the actual kidnapping of the Nurbank executives. The newspaper also accused the officials of "politicizing" the Nurbank investigation, whereas the interior ministry claimed the men taken in for questioning were former or current employees of the special services and not listed in KTK personnel records. ¶9. (U) The Kazakhstan Today news agency, also owned by Aliyev, reported on May 24 that the court did impose sanctions on KTK and Karavan for allegedly violating the language law. ¶10. (U) KTK TV resumed broadcasting on June 4. In a highly publicized nationwide web chat on June 5, President Nazarbayev remarked that the suspension of KTK and Karavan was "exclusively related to the legal sphere" and that they "made up for the legal violations they committed." On June 6, the interior ministry stated that Aliyev "was released on a one-million Euro bail shortly after being detained by Austrian police." ¶11. (U) Also on June 6, former presidential administration official Arman Shurayev confirmed his appointment as the new head of the KTK TV company. Shurayev, who is widely respected by media professionals regardless of their political affiliation, previously worked as the chief inspector of the social and political department in Kazakhstan's presidential administration. He also led the press office of President Nazarbayev's campaign during the 2005 presidential election. ORDWAY