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Russia's attempts to censor Kazakh media draw mockery, sarcasm

By Kanat Altynbayev

Kazakh news site Arbat.media reported on threats from Roskomnadzor in mid-November. At that time, Roskomnadzor was aiming its ire at an article that ran in September under the headline 'Russian Occupiers Suffer Defeat in Kharkiv Province But Don't Want To Admit It.'

Kazakh news site Arbat.media reported on threats from Roskomnadzor in mid-November. At that time, Roskomnadzor was aiming its ire at an article that ran in September under the headline 'Russian Occupiers Suffer Defeat in Kharkiv Province But Don't Want To Admit It.'

ALMATY -- A baseless legal effort mounted by Russia's military against a Kazakh media outlet over coverage of the war in Ukraine has drawn scorn in Kazakhstan.

A Russian court in late January ordered employees of the Astana-based news website Arbat.media to appear at a trial in Vladimir, Russia, scheduled for Friday (February 17).

The summons claimed that an article published by the outlet on the war in Ukraine contradicted the official Russian position and "[was] aimed at creating protest-minded sentiments", Arbat.media reported February 6.

The Russian military unit that filed the lawsuit was in particular rankled by an article published last September with the headline, "Russian Occupiers Refuse to Acknowledge Their Defeat in Kharkiv Province."

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry, shown in an undated photo, assured Arbat.media that Russian courts have no jurisdiction over Kazakh journalism. [Kazakh Foreign Ministry]

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry, shown in an undated photo, assured Arbat.media that Russian courts have no jurisdiction over Kazakh journalism. [Kazakh Foreign Ministry]

The court ordered the Kazakh publication to send someone with his or her passport and an identity document, and to present "all existing proof" of the facts set out in the publication.

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry assured Arbat.media that the Russian court has no legal force in Kazakhstan, the website reported.

"Consequently, the measures it is taking to block some news source or other in Russia are based on Russia's domestic laws. In other words, its decisions have no legal weight and are not enforced on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan," Arbat.media quoted the ministry as saying.

Kazakhstan and Russia have no agreements that allow for outside meddling in the activities of the media in the two countries, the ministry added.

At the same time, Arbat.media did not violate any Kazakh laws, the ministry said.

"Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice, but the state shall be able to adopt restrictions required by national legislation," the ministry said.

Absurdity

Roskomnadzor, the Russian media regulator, had demanded in November that Arbat.media take down the article in question, but the publication refused.

Arbat.media has since reacted with humour to the court order from Russia.

Syrym Itkulov, the editor-in-chief, wrote on Facebook on February 6 that he had called the court in Vladimir "purely out of curiosity" and suggested holding the hearing online.

"They told us that the use of such 'technologies' is not approved, which means that we're obligated to travel to them. I would like to thank everyone for their support in what are truly 'difficult' times for us," Itkulov joked to his followers.

The Russian court's summons is absurd, said Ilya Varlamov, a Russian journalist and video blogger.

"The bureaucrats and the court were unfazed that the publication is in another country -- meaning, totally outside Russian jurisdiction," he said on his YouTube channel.

"They were probably thrown off by the name 'Arbat' but were too lazy to clarify things," Varlamov said, noting that Arbat is the name of a street in downtown Moscow.

Given his public criticism of the Russian government and the war in Ukraine, Varlamov is no longer living in Russia.

Russian authorities have clamped down on the Russian media space since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, and have vainly pursued media outlets outside Russian jurisdiction.

The Kremlin refers to its invasion of Ukraine as a "special military operation" and has insisted that the public and media do the same. Using the word "war" or "invasion" in Russia can incur heavy penalties.

In 2022, Roskomnadzor blocked about 250,000 online resources in Russia that published information that deviated from the official Russian agenda, according to data by the independent monitoring agency RosKomSvoboda.

Roskomnadzor has issued demands to other Kazakh media outlets that were covering the war in Ukraine and related events, including Informburo.kz, Vlast and Ratel.kz.

None of them complied.

On Wednesday a Russian court sentenced a journalist to six years in prison for comments critical of the war in Ukraine, officials said.

Maria Ponomarenko, 44, was prosecuted for a social media post last March related to an attack on the Mariupol theatre that came under Russian control after a long siege.

Kyiv and its Western allies blamed Moscow for the death of hundreds of civilians in the attack, which Russia denies.

'Ridiculous and humourous'

Russia's farcical actions contradict international norms, Diana Okremova, director of the Legal Media Centre, an Astana-based NGO, told Caravanserai.

"All of this looks ridiculous and humourous," she said. "It's obvious that the Kazakh media don't fall under the jurisdiction of the Russian courts and aren't obligated to obey their orders."

The censorship the Russian authorities are pursuing is pointless and ineffective because audiences using modern devices can easily get information, she added.

"A regulator won't be able to block all the websites that are calling the war a war. But censorship backfires like forbidden fruit: if someone tells you that you can't have something, you want it," Okremova said.

The true goal of Russian authorities is to frighten Kazakh journalists so they self-censor and start being more careful about their coverage of the war in Ukraine, she added.

But Russia is obviously failing in that sense too, given Arbat.media's response.

Arbat.media editor-in-chief Itkulov told Caravanserai that pressure from Russian regulatory and law enforcement agencies will in no way affect his outlet's editorial policy on the war in Ukraine moving forward.

"We will continue to offer objective coverage of the geopolitical events in Russia and Ukraine whether the Kremlin likes it or not," Itkulov said.

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2 Comment(s)

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They should shut the mouths of those who threatened Kazakhstan, for starters.

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When will the Kremlin realise they should keep the F.CK away from their neighbours?! Russian world, follow the Russian warship!!! Glory to UKRAINE! Glory to the ZSU!!! [Ukrainian armed forces]

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