US embassy cable - 05ALMATY3453

C O N F I D E N T I A L  ALMATY 003453 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CACEN (MUDGE) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, KZ, 2005 Election, POLITICAL 
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: OPPOSITION MEDIA UNDER PRESSURE IN 
ADVANCE OF ELECTIONS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador John Ordway, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  The risks of doing business with opposition 
media in the run-up to the December presidential elections 
became apparent when the Vremya Print majority owner 
cancelled printing contracts with several opposition 
newspapers, fearing reprisals against his business interests. 
 The papers subsequently signed contracts with a different 
printer.  The confiscation of opposition newspapers 
continued, and the procurator issued a special warning to 
Respublika, declaring all versions of the paper illegal and 
subject to seizure.  The Presidential Administration claimed 
that the opposition press was engaged in illegal, premature 
election campaigning, but said they would hold back on any 
action.  They also admitted that seizing newspapers, except 
Respublika, was a "mistake" that would not be repeated. 
Opposition editors will seek attention and support from the 
international community to embarrass the administration into 
easing the pressure.  The warnings by the procuracy could be 
a worrisome signal that critical, independent media may 
suffer the consequences of their reporting in court.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
Vremya Refuses Lucrative Orders from Opposition Papers 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
2. (SBU) On September 26 Vremya Print cancelled their 
contracts to print five opposition newspapers, without 
explanation (see reftels).  At a press conference the next 
day, the papers' editors accused the authorities of 
pressuring the firm to refuse their orders, and said Vremya 
Print was a "victim" of political machinations.  They staged 
a protest at the firm September 28, demanding an explanation 
for the refusal, and called on international observers to 
boycott the elections in December.  The editors said they Qd 
been negotiating with the Aziya Press and Dauir printing 
houses, both of which belong to the Nazarbayev family, but 
they are "not optimistic" about the outcome.  A day later, 
however, a contract was signed with the Dauir printing house, 
which post understands is owned by presidential sister-in-law 
Svetlana Nazarbayeva; the newspapers have continued to appear 
without interruption. 
 
Ambassador Discusses Issue With Vremya, Pres Administration 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
3. (C) At a meeting with Ambassador Ordway September 28, 
Vremya's editor-in-chief Igor Meltzer and general director 
Boris Kapelman said the firm cancelled the print orders 
because their majority shareholder was worried about 
reprisals against his other business holdings.  Although they 
did not identify him explicitly, it was clear that the 
shareholder was Kazkommertzbank Director Nurzhan 
Subhanberdin, who is affiliated with the Ak Zhol political 
party.  In a separate conversation with emboff, Real Ak Zhol 
co-chairman and former Minister of Information Altynbek 
Sarsenbaiuly (protect) claimed the pressure to cancel the 
contracts came from President Nazarbayev, who has for years 
been infuriated by the opposition media's criticisms of him 
and his administration.  In yet another conversation, 
opposition presidential candidate Tuyakbay said that based on 
his understanding, Almaty akim Tasmagambetov had gone to the 
president with samples of the opposition press and asked how 
he could run Almaty as the president wished with these kinds 
of newspapers printing.  He obtained presidential approval 
for putting pressure on Subhanberdin to pull the plug on 
printing the papers. 
 
4. (C) When the Ambassador asked the Vremya team how the USG 
could help, Kapelman said simply agreeing to meet with them 
had already had an effect, since information about their 
planned meeting had apparently been acquired through a phone 
tap and passed through the chain of command.  He said that at 
3:10pm September 27 Vremya was on the phone planning the 
meeting with the Ambassador, and by 7:47pm the official 
newswire Kazinfo announced Aziya Press was negotiating to 
print the opposition papers.  (Note:  Western press reports 
September 29 confirmed that Aziya and the editors were 
negotiating.)  Meltzer said 25% of the firm's printing 
business came from the opposition press, and he wanted that 
business back.  He said public statements in support of 
independent media from "foreigners" would help, presumably 
because such statements would focus international attention 
on the harassment of opposition media. 
 
5. (C) Ambassador Ordway raised this case by phone with 
Assistant to the President Karim Masimov on September 26. 
The next day Masimov invited the Ambassador to a meeting with 
Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Baurzhan 
 
 
Mukhamedzhanov, and the Ambassador reiterated the dire 
consequences of an election campaign with no opposition 
press.  Mukhamedzhanov said that other printing houses were 
capable of printing the papers, and said that this was a 
purely commercial issue. 
 
Police Seize More Papers During "Bomb Searches" 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
6. (SBU) On September 5 in Kostanay police seized opposition 
newspapers from the offices of the Alga opposition party. 
(Note : the latter started as a radical break-away movement 
from the now-banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan.) 
According to Alga's press service, the police entered without 
a warrant, said they were searching for a bomb, and seized 
all issues of Syet'.kz, Assandi Times, Soz, Lad, Zhuma 
Times-Data Nedeli, Nasha Gazeta, Epokha and Svoboda Slova. 
On September 23 local police in Pavlodar, once again claiming 
they were searching for a bomb, stopped a car making 
deliveries, and seized the "banned newspapers" Epokha and 
Data Nedeli.  Svoboda Slova editor-in-chief Gul'zhan 
Yergalieva, said copies of her paper were regularly being 
confiscated from wholesale distributors, from trains that 
deliver copies to the regions, and from vendors. 
 
7. (C) At the Ambassador's September 27 meeting, 
Mukhamedzhanov volunteered that the "raid" on Alga was a 
mistake, and that the Minister of Internal Affairs had been 
instructed to hold the overzealous enforcers accountable.  He 
defended the confiscation of "banned" newspapers, i.e., 
Respublika and all its aliases, but added that the 
confiscation of Zhuma Times was a mistake and should not 
happen again. 
 
More Bad News for Respublika From Court and Procurator 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
6. (SBU) On September 12, in the latest of a series of 
unfavorable rulings, the inter-district economic court of 
Almaty ruled that Respublika's attempts to transfer ownership 
from Bastau, Ltd. to New Pi Ar, Ltd. were invalid, and thus 
the paper had no legal right to publish.  (Note:  Respublika 
has tried a series of legal maneuvers and name changes to 
keep publishing.  In May the information ministry ordered 
them to stop publishing and revoked their registration. 
Court rulings in March and May ordered them to stop 
publishing, and annulled their registration).  The court also 
rejected Respublika's counter-suit, claiming official 
negligence on the part of the ministry for failing to 
re-register their Syet'.kz version. 
 
7. (SBU) In a statement September 26, the procurator accused 
Respublika of repeatedly violating their registration by 
publishing under various names, and declared that any issues 
of Syet'.kz, Respublika, Pyatoye Izmereniye, or Assandi-Times 
would be confiscated.  The statement mentioned that annulment 
of Syet'.kz's registration, and declared the six issues 
published under that name illegal. 
 
8. (SBU) COMMENT: The opposition editors and Vremya 
management both agree that shining an international spotlight 
on the harassment of independent media could embarrass the 
administration into easing up the pressure.  With more than 
two months before the elections, the warnings by the 
procuracy (ref B) could be a worrisome sign that media will 
suffer the consequences of critical reporting in court.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
9. (U) Minimize for Dushanbe considered. 
ORDWAY 
 
 
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