KAZAKHSTAN: THE COMPLEXITY OF "OPPOSITION MEDIA"

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 001616 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PHUM KPAO KDEM OSCE KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: THE COMPLEXITY OF "OPPOSITION MEDIA" REF: A. ASTANA 1470 ¶B. ASTANA 0431 ¶C. ASTANA 0744 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY: During a media roundtable the Ambassador hosted in Almaty, independent and opposition journalists detailed their opinions, concerns, and experiences. It was a useful and informative snapshot, but it wasn't the whole story. As always, reality is complexly layered. END SUMMARY. COURT CASE SILENCES PAPER BUT NOT EDITOR ¶3. (SBU) "Taszhargan" newspaper's Editor-in-Chief, Yermurat Bapi, told the Ambassador on September 14 during an editor's roundtable in Almaty that he has not published this paper for five months as a result of a local court ruling, subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court, that had fined the newspaper 30 million tenge -- about $200,000 -- for libel against a Parliamentarian (refs B, C). Bapi said even if he had the money he probably wouldn't pay the fine. As a result, "Taszhargan" almost certainly will cease operations. ¶4. (SBU) Bapi plans to replace "Taszhargan" with a newspaper that he has published quarterly for the last two years. (NOTE: It's common practice in Kazakhstan for editors anmd publishers to register multiple "ghosts" -- infrequently or never published -- to keep in reserve. END NOTE.) Bapi accused the authorities of pursuing this "non-newspaper," by suing it for unpaid taxes in the amount of 1.7 million tenge (about $11,333) -- a calculation based on a quarterly circulation of 500 copies over two years. Bapi said he also publishes two other quarterly newspapers. After he provided the latest edition to the authorities in June, Bapi asserts the authorities began harassing him with claims that he had not supplied the necessary copies. (NOTE: According to Bapi, Kazakhstani law stipulates that quarterly newspapers are "infrequent" publications of which copies must be provided to the authorities, including to the Ministry of Information and Culture. END NOTE.) Even though he expects the authorities to invalidate the registration of all three newspapers, Bapi intends to continue publishing, by hook or by crook. MAJOR DIFFICULTIES ¶5. (SBU) Oksana Makushina, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of "Respublika," which the courts had recently ruled must pay BTA Bank 60 million tenge (about $400,000),claimed this on-going libel case is politically motivated, noting the current government management of the bank. She also asserted that the publicity usually associated with a bank suing a newspaper would damage the bank more, and that two articles alone could not have seriously undermined the reputation of one of the largest banks in the Commonwealth of Independent States, which was, in any case, already in default. According to Makushina, "Respublika" plans to appeal up to the Supreme Court, despite the possibility that "another zero will probably be added to the sum we need to pay" -- as happened to "Taszhargan." Although her firm also has a "reserve newspaper," it is still considering whether to publish it due to the close scrutiny anticipated and potential refusal of printing houses to touch it. (NOTE: Subsequent to this meeting, the alternate, "Moya Respublika," was published, authorities seized the entire print run, and the financial police raided the printing house, causing further scandal. END NOTE.) ¶6. (SBU) The Ambassador told Makushina he had been surprised a few days earlier by a "Respublika" article, that drew attention even in foreign capitals, implying that President Nazarbayev is mentally weakened by old age and is so out of touch with reality that Prime Minister Masimov is "manipulating him like a puppet." The Ambassador asked if she believes this view. She replied, a bit umcomfortably, "It was just an opinion piece. That's freedom of speech, isn't it?" ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: In fact, maybe not. The "puppet" article and others like it might be another reason for "Respublika's" harsh treatment. It is widely believe that former BTA Chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov, self-exiled in London and accused of embezzling over $1 billion from BTA, is "Respublika's" financial godfather. We have ASTANA 00001616 002 OF 003 heard from other sources that Ablyazov, and London-exiled and super-wealthy former Prime Minister Kazhigeldin planned an autumn black-propaganda media campaign against the Nazarbayev government in the run-up to Kazakhstan's 2010 OSCE Chairmanship. In another intriguing tid-bit from the roundtable, we heard that the Moscow-based propaganda guru, Gleb Pavlovsky, and about a half-dozen other highly-paid "media consultants" were recently in Astana for meetings with government officials. END COMMENT. NEWSPAPER UNSCATHED BUT OUTLOOK "NOT-SO-ROSY" ¶8. (SBU) Igor Vinyavskiy, Editor-in-Chief of "Vzglyad," voiced concerns about freedom of expression despite the absence of specific problems at his paper. Vinyavskiy said the last edition of his newspaper was dedicated to the Zhovtis case (ref A),which he called "the culmination of illegality in Kazakhstan." Vinyavskiy contrasted efforts to superficially meet legal and procedural norms in the trial and conviction of "the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan" movement's leaders earlier in this decade to the current situation. "The authorities nowadays do not even bother to abide by the law," Vinyavskiy alleged. He particularly called for increased attention to the Zhovtis case and the formation of a "club" of journalists from major newspapers. However, Vinyavskiy expressed concern that authorities are watching many prospective members of the club, and these journalists fear "provocations" against them. "GET-OUT-OF-JAIL-FREE" CARD FOR "NAZARBAYEV'S NEWSPAPER" ¶9. (SBU) Gulzhan Yergaliyeva, the animated and outspoken Editor-in-Chief of the independent "Svoboda Slova," told the Ambassador she was surprised by her newspaper's lack of lawsuits, because individuals in various state and private companies had told her senior newspaper staff they had heard objections to various articles. Yergaliyeva speculated that simply the newspaper's size protected it, since "Svoboda Slova" is one of the only Kazakhstani newspapers with a circulation of over 100,000 and is even regularly handed out to passengers on Air Astana. Yergaliyeva further speculated that "Svoboda Slova" is allowed to operate freely, without pressure, because some whisper cynically that it is "Nazarbayev's newspaper" -- i.e., he wants to have one major "opposition" newspaper that operates without problems to "prove freedom of the press in Kazakhstan," especially in the run-up to its 2010 OSCE Chairmanship. ¶10. (SBU) All around the table agreed when Yergaliyeva listed four subjects that are "untouchable" for any newspaper, independent or opposition: "Kazakhgate" (the ongoing James Giffin trial in the Southern District Court of New York that has implicated Nazarbayev in major corruption in the 1990s),anything to do with Nazarbayev's exiled ex-son-in-law Rakhat Aliyev, Nazarbayev's personal life (like speculation about his mistresses and possible illegitimate children), and Nazarbayev's personal fortune. IF IT'S RELATED TO THE GOVERNMENT, IT MUST BE BAD ¶11. (SBU) Roslana Taukina, Editor-in-Chief of "Obsheshtvenaya Positsia," alleged that only 10 or 12 print, and no broadcast, outlets out of 3,000 registered media outlets are "allowed" to oppose the government. Taukina agreed with Yergaliyeva's view that the government is leaving a few outlets "untouched" as "pre-OSCE" symbols of media freedom. Taukina called Kazakhstan an "artificial democracy" with a club of leading journalists, specifically the Editors-in-Chief Club in Astana, that claims to represent the media but, in fact, "supports repressive laws", including the Internet Law. Taukina also disparaged participants in the Annual Media Forum, Congress of Journalists, and Council for Media Issues under the President -- groups which she said were created to oppose the work of the 10-12 viable sources of opposition media. (COMMENT: We would judge that this is a simplistic exaggeration. While a group like the Editors-in-Chief Club of Astana is government-approved and partly government-funded, we know from experience it presents a public forum for a broad range of opinion. END COMMENT.) INTERNET LAW UNWORKABLE? ¶12. (SBU) Yuriy Mizinov, Chief Editor of www.zonakz.net, which he ASTANA 00001616 003 OF 003 created in 2002 after every Kazakhstani printing house refused to touch his newspaper, described his challenges with "technical censorship." According to Mizinov, his Internet site, through which his newspaper is covering the cases of Zhovtis and several high-profile officials arrested this summer for alleged large-scale corruption, suffers frequent hacker attacks. He suggested that his Internet site has become "a testing ground for massive government-sponsored 'denial-of-service' attacks" under the Internet Law, although they were regularly occurring before the passage of this legislation. However, he asserted, the government cannot block specific bloggers "at-large." Mizimov claimed, "I know the organization that initiates the attacks -- a state company subordinate to the Information Agency." According to Mizinov, the Internet law aims to limit access to foreign Internet sites, which might contain material unacceptable to the authorities -- especially if it has been posted by Rakhat Aliyev -- and to make bloggers accountable for comments that contradict government policies. Mizinov judged, "The Internet law contradicts most of the legal basis of the whole country and is very difficult to implement." He asserted that the head of the Information Agency -- whom he knows well -- is trying now to develop a sub-law that will allow the internet law to work "legally." According to Mizinov, the Information Agency itself has formed a council, which will attempt to mediate cases instead of automatically sending them to the courts. Mizinov said he plans to found an association of journalists to play an active role in all initiatives related to the Internet law. AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT... ¶13. (SBU) In a departure from the "bad news blizzard," Aidos Sarimov, Chief Editor of www.abai.kz , told the Ambassador that the rise of Kazakh-language mass media is an important trend that he attributed to the increasing percentage of ethnic Kazakhs in the population and to an increasing emphasis on Kazakh as the national language. Sarimov noted that his Kazakh-nationalist site receives support from the Sarsenbayev Foundation as well as the European Club of Kazakhstan and the Fund for the Development of the State Language. Sarimov said his Internet site aims to spread European values, promote Kazakh nationalism, and stand against Russian colonialism and imperialism. Sarimov said he hopes to create a Turkic-language-oriented Internet space to facilitate regional interaction in Central Asia. ¶14. (SBU) COMMENT: This roundtable provided a valuable snapshot of concerns by opposition and independent journalists, but it didn't give the full picture of the state-of-play of print journalism in Kazakhstan. Popular independent newspapers like "Vremya" and "Express-K" that have no special opposition connection regularly report real news, uncover and investigate corruption and scandals, and probably, in the end, play a more important role in the larger scheme of good governance and open discourse than rigidly ideological "opposition" papers that, ironically, might be paid from time to time to be destabilizing. This view is certainly not to dismiss the potential positive force of an opposition press, nor is it to downplay in any way the government's occasionally thuggish tactics against them. It is simply to suggest that reality, as always, is complexly layered. END COMMENT. HOAGLAND