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