KAZAKHSTANI JOURNALISTS DEMAND RESIGNATION OF INFORMATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000652

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INR/R/MR, SCA/CEN (MO'MARA),SCA/PPD (JKAMP),DRL/PHD
(CKUCHTA-HELBLING)

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO KDEM KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTANI JOURNALISTS DEMAND RESIGNATION OF INFORMATION
MINISTER

Ref: A) Astana 295; B) 06 Almaty 1750


1. (SBU) Summary: A dispute between Kazakhstani journalists and
Minister of Information Yermukhamet Yertysbayev boiled over the week
of March 5 when prominent media advocates demanded the minister's
resignation for his adversarial attitude toward the media. On March
2, as TV cameras rolled, Yertysbayev dismissed a crew from an Astana
municipal TV station from a huddle of reporters waiting for the
minister's comments on the president's annual address to the nation.
Yertysbayev said the Era TV station had "squealed" on him in a
letter to the head of the presidential administration criticizing
his handling of the January frequency tender (ref A). The
information ministry has filed a suit seeking to suspend Era's
broadcast license for the station's alleged violation of the "50/50"
law requiring equal Russian and Kazakh language programming. Era
has filed its own lawsuits to annul the tender and for inhibiting
the lawful activity of its correspondent. The Prime Minister has
asked Yertysbayev for an explanation of the dispute by March 13.
Some analysts see connections to an ongoing struggle between the
president's eldest daughter and the minister for influence over
Kazakhstan's media. End summary.

Minister Dismisses Era TV Journalists from Pull-Aside
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2. (U) After a March 2 government meeting in Astana on implementing
items from the president's annual address to the nation, a group of
journalists were waiting for comment from Minister of Culture and
Information Yermukhamet Yertysbayev. Centrist independently owned
Channel 31 recorded for their evening news Yertysbayev's astonishing
outburst when he spotted a crew from the Astana municipal station,
Era TV. "Who is that? Get Era out of here, now! Get them out! We
won't give Era any comments, they squealed on me. They wrote a
letter about how I conducted the tender illegally, without a quorum,
etc. That's a lie!" (See ref A regarding the letter to the head of
the presidential administration criticizing the January frequency
allocations). In discussing the incident later, the minister said
he excluded Era TV from covering his remarks because the journalist
arrived late, an assertion disputed by the journalist.

Journalist Organizations Demand Minister's Resignation
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3. (U) The government-affiliated Kazakhstan Union of Journalists
and the National Association of TV and Radio Broadcasters, along
with the independent media defense foundation Adil Soz, demanded
Yertysbayev's resignation during a press conference March 5. In
their joint statement, the nationally known leaders of these
organizations stated that the minister violated legislation
guaranteeing media unrestricted access to information. Seitkazy
Matayev, chairman of the journalists' union, was quoted in the March
6 issue of the progressive newspaper Vremya (circulation 180,000)
saying, "Yertysbayev's obnoxious and high handed treatment of
journalists started a long time ago. He defiantly expels
journalists from press rooms. . . Yertysbayev behaves like a guard
in a third rate bazaar. I've worked with seven ministers of
information, and no one has permitted such behavior before."

Yertysbayev Refuses to Resign, Takes Era to Court
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4. (U) Newswire Interfax-Kazakhstan reported March 5 that
Yertysbayev refused to resign, even though some journalists "had
been demanding this for a whole year." The next day Era reported
that the station had received a subpoena notifying them that the
information ministry had filed suit in the economic court of Astana
against them for providing only 38% Kazakh language programming
instead of 50% as required by the Law on Languages and Law on Mass
Media. The ministry is asking the court to suspend Era's
broadcasting license for three months. According to the subpoena
the court hearing will start in two weeks. Era TV reported March 5
that Kazakhstan's Union of Journalists promised to provide both
legal and financial support for their defense in court. The station
argues that the RIA Arna, the regional TV station in Pavlodar that
received seven broadcast frequencies in the January tender, provides
only 6% Kazakh language programming.

Era Journalist and Station File Lawsuits
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5. (U) On March 7 several media reported that Era TV journalist
Yuliya Isakova filed a suit in the Almatinskiy district court of
Astana against the minister of information for impeding journalism
activities guaranteed to her under the law. According to the
reports, Isakova said she seeks only 1 tenge in moral damages from

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the minister for "the principle" of upholding journalists' rights to
report. On March 11, the station filed a lawsuit asking for the
results of the January frequency tender to be annulled. Yertysbayev
had already commented on the tender in his March 8 interview with
the weekly pro-government Central Asia Monitor (circulation
14,000/week). "We don't intend to resolve the situation regarding
the tender, since there was no violation of the law. The procurator
general did not uncover any violation and if this case is brought to
court, we can quite easily prove we're right. It's possible we
could initiate a countersuit for slander."

Prime Minister Asks Yertysbayev for Explanation
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6. (SBU) Interfax and other media reported on March 11 that Prime
Minister Karim Masimov raised the issue at a government meeting that
day and asked Yertysbayev to provide him a written explanation of
the conflict by March 13. Masimov said that media had asked him
about the conflict, so he wanted a fuller assessment from
Yertysbayev "of all questions" that were being posed to Masimov. In
a conversation with emboff March 12, Isakova (protect) said Era TV
director general Mirbulat Kunbayev sent his own memo to the prime
minister explaining the sequence of events. She said unnamed
"sources" told the station that Yertysbayev spoke with
editors-in-chief of print media on March 12 and asked them to
publish articles critical of Era TV.

Vremya Files Suit Against Yertysbayev
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7. (U) On March 13 the independently owned Vremya, Kazakhstan's
most popular newspaper, published an article about an official
inquiry they sent March 9 to Prime Minister Masimov, asking him how
he assessed Yertysbayev's behavior and what he intended to do about
the conflict between the Ministry of Information and Kazakhstan's
community of journalists. Vremya also complained that Yertysbayev
had accused their own reporter of writing "dirty, completely
provocative articles directed against employees of our ministry."
The paper says that after consulting with lawyers "we decided to
file suit against Mr. Yertysbayev to defend the business reputation
of our paper and to demand a public apology on the air of Channe1 31
and in the Respublika and Vremya newspapers."

Dispute Reveals Fault Lines with Dariga Nazarbayeva
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8. (U) Only four television stations covered the news that national
media organizations were demanding the information minister's
resignation: Era TV, Channel 31, and national broadcasters KTK and
Rakhat TV, both owned by the president's son-in-law Rakhat Aliyev,
the husband of media entrepreneur and member of parliament Dariga
Nazarbayeva. Aliyev's wire service Kazakhstan Today and Interfax
provided regular updates, and by March 13, the prominent
independently owned, pro-government newspapers Liter and its Kazakh
language version Aikyn were also reporting on the conflict. The
official broadcasters Kazakhstan 1 and Khabar did not report on the
dispute.


9. (SBU) Some analysts see the current conflict as part of an
ongoing struggle between Dariga Nazarbayeva and Yertysbayev for
dominance over Kazakhstan's media. Last summer the Congress of
Journalists, chaired by Nazarbayeva, demanded Yertysbayev's
resignation after he fired the management of Kazakhstan 1 and
announced intentions to take government control over Khabar, of
which Nazarbayeva supposedly owns 49% (ref B). The Union of
Journalists, one of the three organizations now demanding
Yertysbayev's resignation, is also associated with Nazarbayeva and
chairman Matayev is considered a close confidante.


10. (SBU) Comment: It is unclear why Yertysbayev has not taken any
action against Channel 31, whose executive director co-authored the
letter asking for the annulment of the January tender. Some
analysts claimed Yertysbayev was carrying out Masimov's bidding in
the allocation of frequencies (ref A). Others claim that
Yertysbayev does not want to cross Bulat Utemuratov, the head of
management affairs for the presidential administration and reputedly
a majority stakeholder in Channel 31. The conflict appears to have
reached a new level of brinksmanship with Vremya entering the
litigious fray. Masimov's response, expected after Yertysbayev
submits his memorandum on the conflict, may provide some clues to
the patrons supporting media players in this latest act.

ORDWAY