Lawyer: House Arrest Prevents Orda.kz Head Bazhkenova from Defending Herself in Court

Lawyer Murat Adam argues that the house arrest of Orda.kz founder and editor-in-chief Gulnara Bazhkenova is preventing her from exercising her right to defend herself in court, Orda.kz reports.

According to Adam, the Almaty City Court will review an appeal on December 8 at 11:30 against the investigative court’s decision to place Bazhkenova under house arrest.

Meanwhile, the Bostandyq District Court has suspended enforcement proceedings against her until the main case — linked to an alleged attempted raid on Orda — is considered.

Bazhkenova is also involved in two ongoing civil cases that require her personal participation, as well as an administrative complaint regarding the actions of a judicial enforcement officer.

The combination of these circumstances indicates that under house arrest, Gulnara Bazhkenova is being deprived of the ability to directly participate in court hearings and to personally defend her interests in the criminal case where she is the complainant. In other words, she has been stripped of the right to defend herself from the actions of Maksat Ganiyev and others she mentioned in publications as having ties to Kaspi Bank,
 the lawyer stressed.

Bazhkenova was placed under house arrest on December 1 after an investigative judge approved the measure. That same day, police conducted searches at Orda’s offices in Almaty and Astana, detaining journalists and seizing equipment.

Adam says he has filed multiple motions with police, as well as complaints to the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Almaty Prosecutor’s Office regarding unlawful actions during the searches and the confiscation of Bazhkenova’s and the newsroom’s property.

He has also submitted a request to open a criminal case into obstruction of a lawyer’s lawful work.

Original Author: Anastasia Prilepskaya