A court in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, started a hearing on October 12 into a complaint against RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, known locally as Radio Azattyq. Alisher Turabaev from the southern city of Shymkent has accused Azattyq of violating a law on the distribution of "false information," because the broadcaster described the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as "Russian-led" in one of its reports. The law, added to the Administrative Code earlier this year, has been called “a soft censorship tool” by rights defenders. The court adjourned the hearing until October 20 after Azattyq’s lawyer requested linguistic forensics for the report in question. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.
Almaty Court Starts Hearing Into Complaint Against RFE/RL's Kazakh Service
Qasym Amanzhol, the head of the Almaty bureau of RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, and lawyer Zhanghazy Kunserkin in court on October 12.