The Minister of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan Aida Balayeva spoke differently, speaking out against the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch❶. This is reported by nur.kz .
The minister said that the international organization Human Rights Watch❶ called publicly "to stop the pressure on journalists in Kazakhstan."
"There is no doubt that the representatives of the organization were misled, since the topic of alleged "torture" has been swinging in Kazakhstan for several days to attract the attention of the international community to several criminal cases in which media representatives are defendants," Balayeva said on this occasion.
According to her, recently in the information space of Kazakhstan there have been loud statements about alleged "systemic pressure" on journalists and the media. Moreover, defendants in criminal cases and their lawyers claim torture against defendants. Such statements have misled both Kazakhstanis and foreign human rights organizations.
"Any allegations of violation of rights and freedoms should be based solely on facts, evidence and legal norms, and not on interpretations, emotions or attempts to attract additional attention to themselves," the minister added.
A few days earlier it was reported that a criminal case had been opened against KazTAG CEO Asset Matayev and editor-in-chief Amir Kasenov. The charges are related to false publications. Prior to that, law enforcement officers conducted searches in the editorial office of Orda, another Kazakh publication receiving foreign funding, whose editor—in-chief Gulnara Bazhkenova is also under house arrest on suspicion of spreading false information.
In both cases, international human rights organizations intervened in the case, stating that journalists were being persecuted, and Aida Balayeva, who shared this point of view and defended the editors-in-chief of both publications.
Prior to that, Aida Balaeva stood up for nationalist blogger Aida Jackson, who was also prosecuted on suspicion of inciting ethnic hatred.
❶An organization whose activities are considered undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation
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