Kazakhstan announced, on the evening of Tuesday February 21, the arrest of eighteen people suspected of being involved in several attacks that have targeted journalists in recent months in this Central Asian country where the press remains largely under control despite a open will displayed.
” Between September 20, 2022 and February 20, 2023 in Almaty and Astana “, the two largest cities of Kazakhstan, ” a series of illegal acts were committed against six journalists, bloggers and a person linked to journalistic activities “, said the police in a press release, published on Tuesday evening, February 21. ” The 18 people involved were arrested and are charged with “threats”, “dissemination of information on private life”, “interference in journalistic activities”, “willful destruction of property” and “hooliganism”, according to the press release.
Blast
The arrests come days after the explosion of two cars belonging to an investigative journalist’s cameraman, whose apartment door was previously tagged in a separate incident. An opposition journalist, who is investigating in particular the events of January 2022 – during which 238 people had officially lost their lives in demonstrations transformed into riots – found her burnt car. In addition, the door to the editorial office of an opposition YouTube channel was broken down six times, while the personal details of the editor-in-chief of another online media outlet and her family were published on Internet.
A ” new kazakhstan »
Located at the crossroads of important trade routes and rich in hydrocarbons, Kazakhstan is trying to turn the page on the past three decades under the omnipotent President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who resigned in 2019. President Kassym-Jomart Tokaev, easily re-elected without opposition in November 2022 with more than 81% of the votes, claims to want to create a ” new kazakhstan » fairer and less unequal, even if economic difficulties and authoritarian reflexes persist.
In line with the constitutional reform of 2022, early legislative elections are scheduled for March 19 in order to “ give new impetus to modernization of this former Soviet republic bordering Russia and China.
(With AFP)
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