US embassy cable - 05ALMATY1953

UNCLAS  ALMATY 001953 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EUR/CACEN (JMUDGE), EUR/PPD (JBASEDOW), EUR/ACE 
(MO'NEAL/ESMITH), DRL/PHD (PDAVIS) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KPAO, KDEM, KZ, POLITICAL 
SUBJECT:  OPPOSITION PAPER OUTMANEUVERS AUTHORITIES IN 
LATEST BATTLE 
 
Ref:  A) Almaty 545; B) Almaty 794 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  On May 5, the information ministry 
ordered Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan's (DCK) weekly 
newspaper "Respublika: Business Review" to stop publishing. 
It revoked the weekly's registration after filing suit in 
February following Respublica's republication of the 
transcript of an interview with Russian ultra-nationalist 
Vladimir Zhirinovskiy.  The ministry said the article 
incited inter-ethnic discord, and undermined national 
security.   After a series of legal maneuvers, the paper re- 
appeared as Syet'.kz on May 13, and foiled ministry 
attempts to confiscate printed copies May 20.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) On May 4, the Committee of Information and 
Archives of the Ministry of Culture, Information, and Sport 
ordered the weekly Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK) 
newspaper Respublika:  Business Review (circulation 40,000) 
to stop publishing, and revoked its registration.  The 
committee's decree followed two previous court rulings 
demanding the liquidation of the newspaper's parent 
company, Bastau, Ltd.  The first ruling against Bastau was 
handed down on March 25 by Almaty's inter-district economic 
court; Almaty's municipal court upheld the original ruling 
May 4 on appeal. 
 
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Respublika:  Public Needed to Know Zhirinovskiy's Comments 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
3.  (SBU) The information ministry filed suit February 25 
against Respublika for printing the transcript of a January 
18 Ekho Moskviy interview with Russian Duma vice speaker 
Vladimir Zhirinovskiy.  In the interview Zhirinovskiy said 
that Kazakhstan was legally Russian territory, and that 
Kazakh was an invented language.  The ministry claimed 
Respublika's article propagandized "the ethnic superiority 
of one nationality over another and undermined the 
territorial integrity and national security of Kazakhstan." 
Respublika's preface to their January 20 transcript said 
the public had a right to know what Zhirinovskiy was 
saying, and should think about how such remarks might 
affect Russian-Kazakhstani relations in the future.  Deputy 
editor-in-chief Galina Dyrdina said the paper was simply 
performing its duty to inform the public. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Info Ministry Decides to "Shoot the Messenger" 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
4.  (SBU) Public and official outrage against Zhirinovskiy 
played out in a series of events over the course of a 
month, culminating in the ministry's "shoot the messenger" 
lawsuit.  On January 30 angry citizens in Almaty 
demonstrated in front of the Russian consulate and burned 
copies of the interview; February 2 Majilis (lower house of 
parliament) deputies issued a formal statement condemning 
Zhirinovskiy; February 9 Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General 
asked his Russian counterpart to punish Zhirinovsky for 
inciting ethnic hatred between Russians and Kazakhs and for 
insulting the dignity of the Kazakh people; February 10 
Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared 
Zhirinovskiy persona non grata; and February 25 the 
information ministry filed suit. 
 
------------------------------- 
Respublika Maneuvers to Survive 
------------------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU)  While the information ministry was pursuing its 
case in the courts, Respublika employed legal maneuvers of 
its own to ensure its survival.  On March 14, eight days 
before the inter-district economic court ruling, the 
newspaper's managers legally transferred ownership from 
Bastau, Ltd. to New Pi Ar, Ltd.  When the city court on 
appeal ordered the liquidation of Bastau on May 4, that 
company was no longer the newspaper's owner.  Moreover, the 
ruling against Bastau did not specifically order the paper 
not to publish.  As for the information ministry's decree, 
Respublika lawyer Sergey Utkin said the information 
ministry does not have the legal authority to close the 
paper because, per article 13 of the law on mass media, 
only a newspaper's owner or the court has the authority to 
 
 
do that. 
 
--------------------------------- 
"Who Needed to Close Respublika?" 
--------------------------------- 
 
6.  (SBU)  After the decision by the information ministry, 
Respublika took a week off, then re-appeared May 13 under 
the name, Syet'.kz ("net").  A front page article 
headlined, "Who Needed to Close Respublika?", claimed that 
efforts to close the paper were retaliation for articles 
alleging that Almaty akim (and former prime minister) 
Imangali Tasmagambetov and Otan party deputy chairman 
Amangeldi Yermegiyaev had embezzled funds from the state 
railroad enterprise, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ). 
Previous articles reported on payments from the Russian 
government to Kazakhstan for renting the Baikonur space 
complex in Kazakhstan.  Under the terms of the rental 
agreement, Russia was to deliver $65 million worth of 
railroad construction equipment to KTZ.  According to the 
reports, the goods actually delivered were worth much less, 
and Kazakhstani government officials who administered the 
deal pocketed the difference. 
 
7.  The following week, city police attempted to block 
distribution of the May 20 issue of Syet'.kz for several 
hours, ostensibly because the paper was not registered with 
the information ministry.  Once again, the paper outwitted 
the authorities.  Syet'.kz registered with the information 
ministry late in 2003 and, as required by law, issued one 
paper in 2004 within six months of registering, and sent a 
copy to the ministry.  In the end, the May 20 edition was 
distributed, when Utkin produced the official ministry 
receipt of 2004 issue. 
 
8.  (SBU).  COMMENT:  Observers have no doubt that the 
attempts to silence Respublika are politically-motivated, 
following the court orders closing DCK (reftel A) and Soz, 
another DCK paper (reftel B).  The information ministry's 
lawsuit was seen as a flimsy pretext, criticized by 
Kazakhstani and international media advocates and even pro- 
government political leaders.  Whether the latest lawsuit 
was tied to the paper's investigative reporting is 
unproven. 
 
 
9. (SBU) COMMENT Cont'd:  The paper known variously as 
Respublika, Assandi Times, Respublika:  Business Review and 
now Syet'.kz will continue to publish and provoke, but the 
question is, what the provocations will yield next.  In 
2004 the Assandi Times was hit with a 50 million tenge 
($370,000) fine - the largest ever awarded - for "defaming 
the reputation of the presidential administration."  In 
2002 editor-in-chief Irina Petrushova fled to Russia after 
the newspaper's Almaty offices were firebombed and a dog's 
head with a threatening note was left at her home.  Last 
month Petrushova was detained for tax evasion for two days 
in Russia at the request of Kazakhstani authorities.  She 
was released following wide reporting of the arrest, and 
after the Moscow prosecutor said she was being detained 
improperly.  In the course of these battles the paper has 
become the standard bearer for Kazakhstan's opposition 
media, and attracted the attention of national and 
international media advocates that publicize each 
encounter.  Whatever happens next, media advocates will be 
watching and sounding the alarm. 
 
10. (U) Minimize for Dushanbe considered. 
 
Asquino 
 
 
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