KAZAKHSTAN: GOVERNMENT CONTINUES CRACKDOWN AGAINST

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 003011 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN (M. O'MARA) SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM PREL KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: GOVERNMENT CONTINUES CRACKDOWN AGAINST OPPOSITION MEDIA REF: Astana 2935 ASTANA 00003011 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Kazakhstani law enforcement initiated a harassment campaign last week against four opposition newspapers that recently published stories about Rakhat Aliyev that included transcripts of recordings of embarrassing telephone conversations among high-level government officials. Four opposition newspapers were investigated October 30-31 for purported tax and regulatory violations. Printers refused to print editions of two of the papers. This followed the blockage of four independent media websites that began October 18 (reftel). Minister of Culture and Information Yermukhamet Yertysbayev told newspaper editors November 1 that they could resume publication only if they stopped publishing materials from Aliyev or related to the transcripts, and must also avoid insulting the dignity and honor of President Nazarbayev. The editors agreed, apparently reluctantly, and the papers resumed publication. End summary. -------------- GOVERNMENT INTERFERES WITH OPPOSITION PAPERS -------------- ¶2. (U) Government agents visited the offices of four opposition newspapers (Svoboda Slova, Respublica, Tas Zhargan, and Vzglyad) during October 30-31. In three cases, agents from the financial police and tax committee informed the newspapers that they were under investigation for breaking the law, hiding financial assets, and underpaying taxes. They attempted to seize financial records and questioned newspaper staff. In a fourth case, fire inspectors surveyed one paper's offices and alleged that the offices were in violation of the fire code. ¶3. (U) Representatives of the four opposition newspapers held a press conference in Almaty on October 31 to publicize the harassment. The editor-in-chief of Svoboda Slova said five Almaty printing houses had refused to print the paper on October 30. The Tas Zhargan representative said their printing house refused to print the paper, supposedly because its printing equipment was broken, and could not be fixed for 1 1/2 or two months. ¶4. (SBU) All four said the harassment was related to publication of information about Rakhat Aliyev and the release of transcripts of recordings of embarrassing telephone conversations between high-level government officials. (Comment: There appears to be little doubt that the source of the audio recordings, which appeared on a Russian internet site, is Aliyev.) In their view, the government is panicking about the situation and trying to stop the flow of information from Aliyev. Galina Dyrdina, editor of Respublika, said that the government was particularly worried about the possible release of new information concerning the February 2006 murder of opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbayev. (Comment: Aliyev's suggestion of Nazarbayev's involvement in the Sarsenbayev murder, further amplified at this press conference, has likely infuriated the GOK.) -------------- -- MINISTER TO EDITORS: OBEY ME OR STOP PUBLISHING -------------- -- ¶5. (SBU) On November 1, Minister of Information and Culture Yertysbayev flew down to Almaty to meet with the newspaper editors and the editor of the zonakz.net website, which had been blocked within Kazakhstan earlier in the month along with three other opposition websites (reftel). Several of the editors told us in confidence that Yertysbayev informed them that if they wished to continue working, they must cease publication of all materials from "the criminal and murderer Rakhat Aliyev," including the transcripts and/or audio files of conversations between high-ranking officials. He also demanded that the newspapers not publish materials "insulting the honor and dignity of President Nazarbayev." ¶6. (SBU) The editors argued that only a court could decide whether Aliyev was a "criminal and murderer" and that they were also printing materials critical of Aliyev and his allegations. They said they feared the demand about not criticizing President Nazarbayev would be expanded to other officials. Yertysbayev said that he would not expand his conditions. In the face of Yertysbayev's pressure, the editors agreed to the conditions. In return, Yertysbayev promised the government would cease interference with the publication of the newspapers. On November 2, the Respublika newspaper was published as usual, and at least one of the web sites is again available. ¶7. (SBU) The day after his meeting with the editors, Yertysbayev told the Ambassador during an impromptu encounter in the building ASTANA 00003011 002.2 OF 002 housing Nazarbayev's office that he had had to "argue hard here" in order to get the negotiating authority to offer to get the newspapers printed and web sites back online in exchange for stopping publication of what he termed "illegal transcripts" of intercepted telephone conversations. -------------- OPPOSITION WEBSITES REMAINED BLOCKED -------------- ¶8. (SBU) In the meantime, Kazakhstani Internet users remain unable to access three of the four independent/opposition-oriented websites that were blocked beginning October 18 (Reftel). Among the four, only zonakz.net was accessible to Kazakhstani users as of November ¶5. On October 31, the Agency for Information and Communications, which regulates domain names and other Internet issues in Kazakhstan, released a statement indicating that it had suspended several Internet sites with the "kz" domain name for violating Kazakhstan's regulation requiring such domain name users to have servers physically based in Kazakhstan. The statement said that the suspensions, which included the opposition sites www.kub.kz and www.geo.kz, were part of a routine investigation and had nothing to do with the content of the websites. The statement also claimed that neither the Agency for Information and Communications nor any other agency had taken action against non-kz websites. However, while, as noted above, www.zonakz.net is currently accessible, www.inkar.info remains blocked. (Note: inkar.info has its server abroad. It is freely accessible from outside Kazakhstan, and Kazakhstani Internet users may access it through proxy servers. In addition, the owners of www.kub.kz and www.geo.kz established new sites using servers based outside of Kazakhstan, www.kub.info and www.geokz.net respectively. End note.) -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Comment: Aliyev is, for now, the big winner in this latest round of intra-elite warfare. The release of damaging accusations and audio files (the latter almost certainly from Aliyev) unnerved the highest echelons of the government and provoked a targeted crackdown on the press that is the most serious since the 2005 presidential election campaign. Abroad, the substance of the audio files and the resulting government crackdown enhance Aliyev's unwarranted credibility as a critic and victim of the regime in Kazakhstan. Aliyev has simultaneously improved his bargaining position vis-a-vis President Nazarbayev, and created a temptation he knew Nazarbayev would find irresistible to crack down on the media - undercutting Kazakhstan's already less-than-stellar reputation for media freedom during the final stages of OSCE's consideration of the country's bid for the chairmanship. As was the case in 2005 when the opposition press reported on Nazarbayev's involvement in the Giffen case, the authorities resorted to high-handed actions to close off public access to what they considered a sensitive subject. In neither case, however, was muzzling the press particularly effective at limiting knowledge of the situation - nor did it have a broader chilling impact on the independent and opposition press that continues its sharp criticism of the government on a wide range of issues. End comment. ORDWAY