Court Considers Lawsuit of 9 Journalists against Ministry of Culture

The essence of the claims is that the new accreditation rules approved by the Ministry of Culture and Information limit freedom of speech and contradict the Constitution. Among the plaintiffs are journalists from Orda.kz.

Rasul Karagayev, a Interdistrict Court for Civil Cases judge, will preside over the trial. Sergey Utkin, a well-known Kazakhstani lawyer from the International Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech "Adil Soz," will represent the journalists' interests. 

Just One Word 

The hearings began with the announcement of motions. Sergei Utkin requested a forensic philological examination of the text of the accreditation regulations approved by the Ministry of Culture and Information.

In particular, the intention was to assess the clause of the regulations on the dissemination of information received from government agencies and other organizations that have accredited journalists. 

A journalist would lose accreditation for a double violation of this rule.

We have a dispute with the responding party, the Ministry of Culture and Information, over one sub-clause and it concerns the understanding of the text from the point of view of philology. We believe that this clause prohibits the journalist from all other means of disseminating information except in the media outlet for which they are accredited. And the Ministry points out in its response that this clause does not prohibit the dissemination of information in social networks. Although it contains the word "only.' And apparently only an expert philologist can help us resolve this issue, said Sergei Utkin. 

The judge denied the petition and did not grant additional time to the plaintiffs to bring in a philologist and conduct an examination independently. He justified this by saying the document requires a legal examination, not a philological one.

Media representatives also petitioned to grant permission to stream the trial in real time on Internet platforms. 

The court determined: taking into account that the court hearing is being held in open mode, taking into account the rights of the parties and the right of journalists to cover the trial, the motion is granted and the live broadcast of the court hearings is allowed, said judge Rasul Karagayev. 

The Art of Not Seeing The Obvious

Sergei Utkin presented the lawsuit from nine journalists against the Ministry of Culture and Information. 

A journalist who has received accreditation from one media outlet may also represent other media outlets. They may also be a blogger themselves, may be registered on various online platforms, and may distribute this information in chats for his colleagues, friends, and acquaintances. The provision that a journalist may distribute information only in the media outlet that submitted the application for accreditation prevents all other methods of distribution. However, Article 20 of the Constitution explicitly states that a journalist has the right to receive and distribute information in any way, not prohibited by law, the lawyer noted.

According to Sergei Utkin, this regulation directly contradicts the Constitution, so it must be revoked.

The lawyer also highlighted that the regulations should only provide oversight for the accreditation procedure. 

The Ministry of Culture and Information included in these regulations the norm of behavior of journalists when working in a government agency where they are accredited. That is, the Ministry decided to regulate the professional activities of journalists. Such regulation is not provided for anywhere as the capacity of the Ministry. Maybe tomorrow they will provide for some kind of dress code, prohibit coming in shorts or will not allow asking certain questions. The Ministry cannot do this, says Sergei Utkin.

Government agencies also do not have the resources to track in which media an accredited journalist has disseminated the information he or she has received. Tracking and proving this dissemination is virtually impossible – information appears instantly on many Internet resources. 

Representatives of the MCI and the Ministry of Justice were unable to give a concrete answer to two essential questions. The first is whether organizations accrediting journalists are now obliged to monitor the media in which they publish information. The second is why the regulations' drafters do not see that the ban on disseminating information in several media interferes with journalists' legitimate professional activities. 

The journalists also challenge the procedure for introducing the new regulations. They came into force on August 20 and were published on August 26. The Constitution, however, states that regulations affecting the rights and freedoms of citizens must be introduced after official publication. 

The trial is to transition to the next stage, with arguments set to begin on October 4.

Nine journalists filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Culture and Information in early October. 

Original Auhtor: Anastasia Prilepskaya