Lawyer Comments on Gulnara Bazhkenova's House Arrest Conditions, Appeals to International Organizations

Gulnara Bazhkenova, founder and editor-in-chief of the online publication Orda.kz, has been placed under house arrest, leaving her unable to defend herself or the editorial office from what her lawyer describes as a corporate raid. 

According to the defense, the preventive measure was imposed without legal grounds, Orda.kz reports.

‘They Banned Everything’

Lawyer Murat Adam said in a private appeal against the investigative court’s ruling that house arrest must be justified by sufficient grounds. Under the law, such a measure is applied only when there is a risk that a suspect may flee, obstruct the investigation or court proceedings, or continue alleged criminal activity.

Addressing claims that Bazhkenova might abscond, Adam said she had crossed Kazakhstan’s border twice in recent months, traveling to the United States and several European countries, and had voluntarily returned each time. If she had intended to flee, he argued, she had ample opportunity to do so.

However, the pre-trial investigation body did not provide the court with information about her travels or returns.

Despite provisions in the Criminal Procedure Code requiring courts to consider less restrictive preventive measures, the court approved house arrest.

Today, unlike Gulnara Bazhkenova, other media executives facing criminal charges under the same article are free and can continue working. Gulnara, however, is under house arrest, meaning she’s completely isolated from communication with virtually everyone. She can’t give interviews or write anything independently,
 the lawyer emphasized.

Under the restrictions, Bazhkenova may communicate with the outside world only through her lawyer.

The measures also affect her minor child.

Today, her child can’t go for a walk because there’s no one to look after him. The court banned Gulnara from having a nanny. It also banned her from having a housekeeper, which isn’t a whim for Gulnara, but a vital necessity. Because she’s medically prohibited from doing a lot of household chores — she can’t go near a hot stove, she can’t lift heavy objects. I consider all of this torture,
 Adam said.

According to him, the house arrest violates not only Bazhkenova’s right to freedom and professional activity, but also basic human rights and the rights of her minor child. The court also barred her from communicating with relatives, citing an alleged risk of information leaks.

She is unable to transfer custody of the child to relatives.

She cannot issue a power of attorney to a representative in court or at a founders’ meeting because she is unable to review and sign documents online — the court has banned her from using social media and the internet. Offline contact with third parties, including a notary, is also prohibited,
 Adam added.

‘An Attempt to Silence Orda’

According to the lawyer, Bazhkenova has repeatedly said that pressure on her and the editorial office — including hacking attempts and fake information campaigns — has a single goal: to silence Orda.kz and shut the outlet down.

He said the strict conditions of house arrest serve the interests of those seeking to paralyze the media’s work.

Under these conditions, Gulnara Bazhkenova is deprived of the ability to defend Orda. The criminal case over the alleged raiding of a 70% stake in Orda Media LLP, the opening of which we achieved at the Department of Economic Investigations (DEI), is now being handled by the Almaty police department. The reasons for this are unclear — the case should be handled by DEI,
 Adam said.

He also pointed to information leaks, noting that alleged details about seized funds and items from Bazhkenova’s apartment had already appeared online. According to him, his inquiries to investigators about the leaks have gone unanswered.

Due to the restrictions of house arrest, Bazhkenova cannot participate in investigative actions related to the alleged corporate raid.

She is also unable to send a representative by proxy to a founders’ meeting of Orda Media LLP. The situation was used by the second co-founder, Maksat Ganiyev, who held a meeting, appointed himself director of Orda, and announced plans to meet with journalists and conduct a valuation of the outlet as an asset.

As a lawyer, I consider this decision illegal. Maksat Ganiyev knew perfectly well that Gulnara Bazhkenova had a valid reason for not attending the meeting. He should have declared a recess until the issue of her preventive measure was resolved and raised the matter only after she was released,
 Adam said.

He also noted that following complaints about violations during searches and detentions of Orda journalists on December 1, the Almaty prosecutor’s office confirmed the violations, initiated disciplinary proceedings, and recognized the actions of police officers as unlawful.

Appeals to International Actors

One of the key elements of Bazhkenova’s defense is appealing to international human rights organizations to draw global attention to what the lawyer describes as violations by Kazakhstan’s security forces of constitutional principles, freedom of speech, and journalists’ rights.

We have written to the Special Rapporteurs of the UN Human Rights Council, reporting the arbitrary detention of Gulnara and Orda journalists. We have also submitted appeals to the OSCE, the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan, and other international human rights organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ),
 Adam said.

In my opinion, freedom of speech is currently being suppressed, and censorship is total. One of Orda’s core principles is to speak without censorship. Our Constitution prohibits censorship. I therefore appeal to all ambassadors of diplomatic missions in Kazakhstan — primarily those of the United States and the European Union — to provide every possible assistance, appeal to the head of state, and call on the government to decriminalize Article 274 of the Criminal Code for disseminating knowingly false information. This article should not exist at all. Today it is being used as a tool to pressure independent media,
 the lawyer emphasized.

Background

Pressure on Bazhkenova and Orda.kz journalists has been ongoing for several months and intensified in early September following a series of investigations.

Attempts to demoralize Orda's management and staff included fake accounts, disinformation campaigns, and direct provocations.

On December 1, security forces raided Orda.kz offices in Almaty and Astana, conducting searches without providing justification, forcibly removing lawyers, and detaining several employees. 

A safe in the Almaty office was broken into, and employees’ salaries, personal belongings, phones, and laptops were seized. The confiscated items have not been returned.

Gulnara Bazhkenova has been under house arrest since December 1.

Original Author: Anastasia Prilepskaya