{"id":143629,"date":"2021-04-30T07:51:44","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T07:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=192725"},"modified":"2021-04-30T07:51:44","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T07:51:44","slug":"kazakh-journalist-sentenced-to-forced-labor-media-ban-restricted-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/04\/30\/kazakh-journalist-sentenced-to-forced-labor-media-ban-restricted-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Kazakh Journalist Sentenced To Forced Labor, Media Ban, ‘Restricted Freedom’"},"content":{"rendered":"
A Kazakh court has sentenced a blogger and journalist to one year of \u201crestricted freedom\u201d — a parole-like limitation — and 100 hours of forced labor on what the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called \u201ctrumped-up charges.\u201d<\/p>\n
The court in the capital, Nur-Sultan, also banned Aigul Otepova on April 29 from conducting \u201cpublic and political activities\u201d for three years, including working in the media, after convicting her of participating in banned political groups.<\/p>\n
Otepova, who has denied the charges, said she plans to appeal the ruling.<\/p>\n
She and her lawyer said they believe the case is an attempt to silence her reporting that is critical of state authorities. <\/p>\n
The conviction \u201conce again demonstrates how the country\u2019s laws banning so-called extremist groups are routinely used to stifle political dissent,\u201d said Gulnoza Said<\/a>, CPJ\u2019s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. <\/p>\n Said urged the authorities to \u201coverturn this baseless sentence on appeal\u201d and ensure that Otepova\u2019s \u201crights to conduct investigative journalism and express critical opinions are fully respected.\u201d<\/p>\n Otepova was detained in mid-September and put under house arrest after she placed a post on Facebook criticizing official efforts to curb the coronavirus outbreak.<\/p>\n In November, she was placed in a psychiatric clinic for 18 days for a mandatory mental-health evaluation. The journalist was released on December 11 and remained under house arrest.<\/p>\n Human rights groups have criticized the Kazakh government for years for persecuting independent and opposition journalists.<\/p>\n Rights activists in Kazakhstan have criticized authorities for using Soviet-era methods of stifling dissent by placing opponents in psychiatric clinics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n