Kazakh Prosecutor Suspends Media Outlets

May 24, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Kazakhstan's prosecutor-general says operations at KTK Television and the newspaper "Karavan" have been suspended for three months for failure to meet requirements on use of the state language, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported.

Both media outlets are connected to Rakhat Aliev, the son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev.


Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry announced on May 23 that charges had been filed against Aliev in connection with the kidnapping and assault of two senior members of Nurbank.


Aliev is Kazakhstan's ambassador to Austria.

Exporting Kazakhstan's Energy

Exporting Kazakhstan's Energy

Work on a Kazakh pipeline (TASS file photo)

PRESSURE FROM THE KREMLIN? Columbia University political science professor Kimberly Marten told an RFE/RL briefing that Russia seems to be using its control of gas pipelines in the former Soviet Union to pursue its goals in Kazakhstan.


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RFE/RL's coverage of Kazakhstan.