Kazakhstan's Democratic Forces Forum |
We won't sit with our arms foldedAlmaty Press Conference An emergency press conference of editors-in-chief of opposition newspapers has been held today at National Press Club in Almaty. The editors spoke about the intolerable facts of pressure put on independent media outlets in the run-up to the presidential election in Kazakhstan slated for December 4, 2005. Yesterday, 26th September 2005, managers of printing company Vremya-print that had published all these papers for a long time, all of a sudden refused to publish current issues of the newspapers without providing any reasons, said editors-in-chief of the newspapers who attended the press conference, namely Gulzhan Yergaliyeva from Svoboda Slova, Bakhytzhan Mukushev from Epokha, Akhas Tazhutov from Apta.kz, Amantai Akhetov from Pravda Kazakhstana, Yermurat Bapi from Zhuma-taims,Galina Dyrdina from Soz, and Nazira Darimbet from Azat. Asked by journalists about the reasons for such unilateral actions, the printing company managers answered invariably, “No comment.” It should be mentioned that the incident took place right after the visit to the above-mentioned printing company of OSCE mission members who studied the need for observers at the forthcoming presidential election. They were assured that no restrictions were put on opposition press printing. Those who spoke at the press conference attracted attention of the audience to the fact that there had never been a case in the history of Kazakhstan earlier that all democratic publications stopped to be published altogether. There were such cases in the history of more totalitarian states, but the authorities there banned the publication first. The authorities in Kazakhstan, frightened by the consolidation of democratic forces ahead of the crucial presidential election, have decided to eliminate the opposition press following the best Soviet-era traditions: by way of phone calls from high-level officials and underhand arrangements. However, it's a fact now: all the editions that have published materials sympathizing with the presidential candidate Zharmakhan Tuyajbai and critical of the incumbent head of state Nursultan Nazarbayev are prevented from publishing. Hundreds of thousands of their readers and subscribers have been left without their papers and editorial staff has been left without their jobs! Owners of the newspapers have contacted other printing companies. In particular, they have forwarded collective requests to the president of the largest Kazakh printing complex ÀÎ Dauir S. Nazarbayeva (a close relative of President Nazarbayev) and director of Asia-press (former Franklin) V. Yamshchikov. However, these talks can hardly give reasons for being optimistic or feel sure that opposition media will soon be published again. Opposition media staff is indignant at such actions of the authorities. They regard these unprecedented and absurd facts as cowardice of the authorities. Under these circumstances any assurances of the Kazakh President that the forthcoming election will be free and fair are hypocrisy, lie and profanation. Opposition media staff says they intend to fight to defend their constitutional rights. In particular, they plan a series of events and protests. Editors-in-chief of opposition papers will go on hunger strike, said Gulzhan Yergaliyeva. The aim of this extreme measure is to attract attention of the Kazakh public to the problems that the publications are facing. Press conference participants called on the Kazakh public, in particular their colleagues in journalism, to denounce the actions of the authorities and to attend the protest rally that could take place in the first fortnight of October. In addition, the papers' staff intends to urge international organizations, in particular the CIS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and OSCE not to send their observers to monitor the election. In the light of such Draconian measures regarding the opposition press unacceptable in any democratic state, the forthcoming election cannot be free or fair. “The authorities force us to go underground. This does not mean, however, that we will put up with this and are going to sit with our arms folded,” said editors-in-chief of opposition papers.
FJK, September 27, 2005
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