Culture Minister Aida Balayeva Comments on Situation Surrounding Orda and KazTag
Photo: Orda
Journalist Dinara Sadzhan published a video on her Telegram channel in which Minister of Culture and Information Aida Balayeva comments on the situation surrounding Orda's newsroom.
After security forces raided Orda’s offices — searches were conducted with SOBR present — it became known that editor-in-chief Gulnara Bazhenova had been placed under house arrest. Searches were also carried out at her home.
In the Almaty office, officers seized work equipment, journalists’ personal phones, and other items — including the staff salary fund. The newsroom is now operating without pay.
Orda’s lawyers have pointed to procedural violations during the searches. Murat Adam, for example, filed multiple motions with the police, as well as complaints with the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Almaty Prosecutor’s Office, regarding law enforcement's actions.
A similar situation surrounds KazTag's leadership. A criminal case was opened against the agency’s general director, Aset Matayev, and editor-in-chief, Amir Kassenov, who were designated as suspects following a complaint from Freedom Finance.
Here is what Balayeva said:
If a judicial process is underway or criminal cases are being considered, we cannot take direct part in them. However, our lawyers are carefully studying the situation. We are in contact with Aset Matayev (general director of KazTAG - Ed.). You already know about Bazhenova. Although she did not receive funding from our ministry, I have always supported Gulnara Bazhenova. She herself noted in one of her interviews: ‘Aida Balayeva supports the editor-in-chief of the outlet.’ In this situation, we must be guided solely by the law. Our lawyers are working on this issue...
KazTAG journalists also quoted Balayeva expressing support for their outlet.
One notable passage reads:
Balayeva reported that lawyers from the Ministry of Culture and Information contacted the KazTAG news agency. In addition, she added that the ministry plans to submit amendments to parliament on the decriminalization of the article on knowingly false information.
Human rights advocates have long argued that decriminalizing “knowingly false information” is necessary to prevent pressure on the press.
Latest news
- Who Will Be Able To Create New Regions In Kazakhstan? Parliament Defines Powers
- Nazarbayev’s Grandson, Freedom Founder And Ordabasy’s Future Owner Among Kazakhstan’s Youngest Richest Businessmen
- Deputy Says Salary Is Not Enough, Asked His Wife To Work
- Kazakhstan Is Buying Fewer Drones, But Paying More For Them
- Kazakhstan And Turkey To Create UAV Production Enterprise — What Else The Presidents Agreed On
- KTZ Top Management Pay Tops One Billion Tenge
- “We Are Being Asked to Approve an Illegal Project”: Environmentalists Demand Halt to Almaty Mountain Development
- Pentagon May Add $400 Million to Kazakh Tungsten Project Linked to Trump’s Sons
- Kazakhstan To Tighten Biometric Authentication Rules
- Kazakhstan To Recruit Public Assistants To Help Prevent Financial Crimes
- AI Could Replace Up To 400,000 Jobs In Kazakhstan, Labor Ministry Says
- Almaty Police Put More Than 3,000 Domestic Violence Offenders On Preventive Register
- Kazakhstan To Introduce Workplace Harassment Liability
- 10 Suspected Of Serious Crimes, Extortion, And Armed Hooliganism Detained In Almaty
- Kazakh Employers To Give Written Notice Of Changes To Working Conditions
- Kazakh Businesses Overpay Nearly 500 Billion Tenge For Employee Insurance, MP Says
- Kazakhstan Does Not Face Road Bitumen Shortage, Energy Ministry Says
- Kazakhstan To Introduce New State Orders And Awards
- How Much Water Will Kazakhstan’s First Nuclear Power Plant Need For Cooling?
- 149th Place And Five Detained Journalists: What Is Happening To Press Freedom In Kazakhstan
