Blogger Claims Anti-Corruption Service Filed Complaint Against Him

Blogger Azamat Sarsenbayev claims that the regional Anti-Corruption Service, known as Antikor, has filed a complaint against him over a post he made on Instagram, Orda.kz reports.

Employees of the anti-corruption service of the Mangystau region demonstrated their complete incompetence by filing an administrative protocol against me under Article 73-3, Part 2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Defamation, i.e. dissemination of knowingly false information that defames the honor and dignity of another person or undermines his reputation). Firstly, since when has a state institution begun to perceive itself as a specific person? Secondly, since when have citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan been prohibited from speaking, discussing, and constructively criticizing the activities of state bodies and institutions?
 the blogger wrote on his Instagram page.

The complaint allegedly stems from a post published by Sarsenbaev on March 30:

For example, I know for sure that the shopping center at the bus stop behind me is protected by an employee of the anti-corruption service. Why, you ask? Because it is impossible to simply increase the land plot from 60 square meters to 650 square meters at a public stop, to build a shopping center with conceivable and inconceivable violations,
 the blogger’s post reads.

Under Article 73-3, Part 2, the penalty for slander can include a fine of 707,000 tenge or up to 20 days of arrest.

Orda.kz has reached out to the regional Anti-Corruption Service for comment and is awaiting a response.

Original Author: Dinara Bekbolaeva