Kazakhstan: House Arrest Of Journalist Aigul Utepova Causes Impediment Of Her Work
Location: Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan
Date: September 22, 2020
Blogger and journalist Aigul Utepova who was arrested on September 17, was released on September 20 after being interrogated and was sentenced to house arrest. The journalist who has nominated herself for presidency back in 2015, was arrested for her posts on Facebook with charges of breach of Article 405/2 of Criminal Code and was facing upto two years imprisonment. (“Participation in the activities of a public or religious association or other organization, in respect of which there is a court decision that has entered into legal force banning their activities or liquidating them in connections with their implementation of extremism or terrorism.”)
In one of Aigul’'s last Facebook posts, she criticized the government's measures to combat the coronavirus epidemic and wrote about the "changes" that have occurred during the six months of quarantine.
According to the court ruling, Utepova will be under house arrest for the duration of the investigation, at least until November 17.
The ruling of Timur Kopbosynov, judge of the specialized interdistrict investigative court of the city of Nur-Sultan, stated that she is prohibited from leaving home, except to seek help from medical institutions. The 50-year-old journalist has poor health including chronic asthma which puts her under risk with the ongoing pandemic.
Aigul Utepova said that the prosecutor who participated in the trial asked the court to keep her in custody. She herself asked to be released on recognizance not to leave in connection with the need to continue working. However, the judge refused, referring to the presence of an adult daughter.
50-year-old Aigul Utepova, who has her own YouTube channel, is known to people as an “outrageous journalist”.
Placing a middle aged journalist in house arrest is equal to banning her from performing journalism as journalists need to be mobile and active in social life in order to bring the public information and awareness needed for building a democratic society. Kazakhstan, which ranks as 157 out of 180 countries in the world press freedom index is notorious for censorship over the Internet and jailing or sending bloggers to psychiatric institutions. The Coalition For Women In Journalism urges authorities to put an end to such humiliating practices and ensure freedom of expression, including dropping the charges against Aigul Utepova.
The CFWIJ strongly condemns the police brutality against journalists. We demand the immediate return of the press cards seized from the security forces. Policies to intimidate journalists should be abandoned, and journalism should be practiced under the criteria of freedom of the press.
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