ORAL, Kazakhstan – A Kazakh journalist who sustained serious injuries in a recent assault went on trial in absentia on April 27 in a libel case.
Lukpan Akhmedyarov, a correspondent for the "Uralskaya nedelya" weekly in the western city of Oral, was stabbed and shot with a pneumatic pistol on April 19.
He received a subpoena to attend the trial from hospital but was unable to do so due to his health condition.
A top official in the West Kazakhstan Oblast, Tilekqabyl Imashev, has filed a lawsuit against Akhmedyarov. Imashev is demanding financial compensation from the journalist, alleging he “hurt his dignity and honor” in one of his articles.
Akhmedyarov says both the lawsuit and the attack against him are politically motivated.
Lukpan Akhmedyarov, a correspondent for the "Uralskaya nedelya" weekly in the western city of Oral, was stabbed and shot with a pneumatic pistol on April 19.
He received a subpoena to attend the trial from hospital but was unable to do so due to his health condition.
A top official in the West Kazakhstan Oblast, Tilekqabyl Imashev, has filed a lawsuit against Akhmedyarov. Imashev is demanding financial compensation from the journalist, alleging he “hurt his dignity and honor” in one of his articles.
Akhmedyarov says both the lawsuit and the attack against him are politically motivated.