A coalition of leading international human rights and press freedom organizations has issued a joint letter to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressing serious concern over a marked deterioration in media freedom in Kazakhstan.
The appeal follows a series of recent actions by the authorities that signal an intensifying crackdown on independent journalism. Since December 2025, several prominent journalists have been placed under pretrial house arrest on charges of “distributing false information” under Article 274 of the Criminal Code—a provision widely criticized for its vague wording and susceptibility to politically motivated misuse. If convicted, those targeted face custodial sentences of up to three years.
The signatory organizations—including Committee to Protect Journalists, International Press Institute, and Freedom for Eurasia—warn that these developments are incompatible with Kazakhstan’s stated reform trajectory under the “New Kazakhstan” framework and raise serious concerns regarding compliance with international human rights obligations, including protections for freedom of expression under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Beyond individual prosecutions, the letter highlights a broader pattern of pressure, including harassment campaigns, cyberattacks, denial of accreditation, and administrative obstruction targeting independent media outlets. Taken together, these measures risk fostering a climate of fear and self-censorship that undermines pluralism, accountability, and the rule of law.
The organizations call on President Tokayev to take urgent and concrete steps, including the release of journalists prosecuted for their professional activities, the decriminalization of Article 274, and meaningful engagement with civil society to safeguard media freedom in Kazakhstan.
The full text of the joint letter is available below.
Dear President Tokayev,
We, the undersigned international human rights and press freedom organizations, are writing to express our serious concern over a recent spate of arrests of journalists and an escalating pattern of harassment of independent media in Kazakhstan. Since December 2025, four prominent independent journalists have been placed under pretrial house arrest, three of them on charges of distribution of false information under Article 274 of the Criminal Code. If convicted under this broadly-worded provision, journalists face up to three years in prison.
We believe these developments clash fundamentally with the concepts of a “New Kazakhstan” and the primacy of the rule of law (“Заң мен тәртіп”) that you have set out as the basis of your presidency, and that they require your urgent attention. We welcome news that the Ministry of Culture and Information is examining possibilities for the partial decriminalization of Article 274. While this would be a positive step, it should be accompanied by more robust action to protect press freedom and free speech in Kazakhstan.
In particular, we request that you:
- Ensure that all journalists prosecuted for their work are released and the charges against them dropped.
- Initiate the decriminalization of Article 274 on alleged “knowing distribution of false information,” which due to its broad wording is susceptible to abuse – a concern repeatedly raised by international human rights bodies.
- At your convenience, meet with our organizations to discuss these and other pressing issues of media freedom.
Cases of urgent concern include:
Gulnara Bazhkenova: The founder and editor-in-chief of popular independent news outlet Orda, Bazhkenova has been under house arrest since December 1, 2025, pending trial on a criminal charge of distributing false information. Her detention followed claims she made during a news show on YouTube that a government minister had been involved in corruption and other serious crimes. Although the charges against her are reportedly unrelated to these claims, we believe they are in retaliation for the show and her wider reporting. We are also concerned that Kazakh authorities failed to protect Bazhkenova during months of appalling online and offline harassment before her arrest. Among other things, she repeatedly received personalized wreaths and death notices purporting to mark her own death, and an AI-produced video was distributed of her lawyer announcing her death by suicide. Her lawyer’s public advocacy on her case led to his being disbarred.
Amir Kasenov: The editor-in-chief of prominent independent news agency KazTAG, Kasenov has been under pretrial house arrest on criminal charges of distributing false information since December 24, 2025. Charges against him and KazTAG director Aset Matayev were filed based on a complaint from Kazakh financial services company Freedom Finance, whose lead shareholder Timur Turlov accused the outlet of being part of an “information campaign” against him. Kasenov’s placement under house arrest followed his vocal denunciation of the charges against him and his allegations that investigators were trying to intimidate him.
Aset Matayev: KazTAG director Matayev was arrested on March 18 on hooliganism charges after an incident in which he was assaulted with a crowbar, resulting in a lower forehead fracture and other facial injuries. On March 30, he was moved into house arrest pending trial. Matayev — who was previously jailed between 2016 and 2018 because of his work — had been charged on “false information” grounds in December, but those charges were recently dropped. We call for a full and transparent investigation into his case and the attack on March 18, given the possibility that the assault might have been linked to his work.
Botagoz Omarova: On March 21, independent journalist Omarova became the third prominent journalist to be sent into pretrial house arrest since December on charges of distributing false information. Widely respected by her peers for her careful work, she has reportedly been charged because of a post on her Telegram channel, which covered claims that a company constructing a stable on the orders of your presidential office had failed to pay subcontractors.
We would also like to highlight the case of Lukpan Akhmedyarov, founder of the outlet Prosto Zhurnalistika, who was detained and interrogated in April 2025 as part of a criminal investigation into the spread of false information, and whose case we also fear is politically motivated.
More widely, a rising tide of harassment is rendering the work of independent Kazakh media increasingly difficult. Government measures such as the repeated months-long denial of accreditation to dozens of journalists from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — also in connection with alleged distribution of “false information” — and the blocking of news outlet ResPublika appear to have little justification beyond a desire to obstruct these outlets’ reporting.
Announcing its closure on March 30, popular media project Airan suggested its sponsors had been pressured to withdraw funding. Leading media outlets continue to face regular cyberattacks, which can knock their websites offline for hours or days at a time. And dozens of prominent journalists, news outlets, and press freedom groups have in recent months reported having their social media accounts and posts blocked or removed following spurious and apparently orchestrated complaints.
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. We are convinced that the criminalization and demonstrative punishment of journalists outlined above can have no place in the democratic society you aim to build in the “New Kazakhstan.”
Thank you for your urgent attention to these matters. We are ready to meet you at your earliest convenience to provide further context and answer any questions you may have.
Signed
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC)
International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR)
Civil Rights Defenders
International Press Institute (IPI)
Freedom For Eurasia (FFE)