A coalition of international press freedom and human rights groups on Monday urged Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to ensure press freedom by dropping criminal charges against journalists placed under house arrest and revising laws the groups said restrict media activity. In the letter, the organizations said Kazakhstan is facing what they described as a recent wave of journalist arrests and an escalating pattern of harassment aimed at independent newsrooms.
The letter named several journalists the groups said have been placed under house arrest pending trials, including Gulnara Bazhkenova, Amir Kasenov, Aset Matayev and Botagoz Omarova. The groups said the “rising tide of harassment” is making the work of independent Kazakh media increasingly difficult.
The organizations also urged Tokayev to ensure that journalists prosecuted for their work are released and that charges against them are dropped. The letter called for loosening laws on distributing “false information,” saying those legal provisions should be adjusted to better protect press freedom.
Rights groups said the pressure on media has extended beyond individual cases. They raised concerns that the government has denied accreditation for months for dozens of journalists from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and they said Kazakhstan blocked the outlet ResPublika in ways they described as lacking justification beyond obstructing reporting.
In addition, the groups said “dozens of prominent journalists, news outlets, and press freedom groups” have reported that their social media accounts and posts were blocked or removed after complaints they characterized as spurious and apparently orchestrated. They said those actions contribute to a climate in which media workers face heightened risk.
The letter warned that the attacks could damage Kazakhstan’s reform agenda by prompting journalists to self-censor. “Mr. President, collectively these attacks on the press threaten to create a climate of fear and self-censorship that irreparably undermines the credibility of your reform agenda,” the groups said.
Tokayev’s office declined to comment on the letter. The appeal arrives after constitutional changes initiated by Tokayev received overwhelming approval in a referendum last month, cementing his grip on power in Central Asia’s largest country.
Tokayev, 72, is limited to one seven-year term until 2029, but analysts believe he could use the referendum to reset presidential term limits. The president has maintained what analysts describe as a delicate balance between Moscow and the West amid sanctions imposed on Russia over its war in Ukraine, and he has cast the constitutional changes as a response to the need for quicker decision-making in a rapidly changing world.