Blogger on Trial
For the first time a blogger was tried in Kazakhstan. He is not an Internet-savvy young cyber-dissident uploading material through proxy servers that you would imagine. His name is Kazis Toguzbayev, he is a General, a pensioner, a journalist, and a member of “Alga” party. What he did was to write an article and post on KUB, a group blog with publishing rights for anyone.
Verdict
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On behalf of Republic of Kazakhstan
Bostandyk District Court, Almaty
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Decided
On 2. 04. 2006, Mr. Toguzbyev K.K., created a text on his personal computer, at his own house, address …, acting with the direct intention of insulting the honour and dignity of the President of Kazakhstan.. He wrote an article titled “The Pope of Rome and the Papa of Astana – Feel the Difference!”, and included comments, which mentioned president Nazarbayev, stating that “… he wanted to cover the murder of Sarsenbayev…”.
The same day he placed the text … for public display and for the users of the Internet on the site, hosted on the server with the IP-address 65 .98 .98.53 in Hong-Kong, which is a mass media”.
This is a translation of Mr. Toguzbayev’s verdict that he copied and posted on the same blog. Throughout the investigation, initiated by the Committee for National Security (KNB), Kazis Toguzbayev was writing down and posting all about its course.
It is indeed not correct calling someone a “murderer”, unless it is proven by law (the trial in the case of Sarsenbayev has already happened and the accused were convicted). It is great that the accused was able to post all the documents from his proceedings online. Many people were able to read and comment, to sympathize or condemn, and to protest in the court room, if necessary. It is nice to see our blogger optimistic about the country, smiling and taking photos at numerous gatherings of political activists in Almaty.
However, it is wrong to have an article in the Penal Code on insulting the dignity of the President. Though several European countries still have such provisions, which stem from the divine right of the royal ruler, these provisions are almost never used anymore. Finally, the KNB filing a suit against a journalist is not good at all. In fact, it is a disservice to the President to use this article. Toguzbayev is no one in power, so having him accused only provides more ground for criticism from local and Western human rights advocates, not serving any legitimate, or a reasonable purpose.
Toguzbayev’s defence said the President has to feel insulted for this case to be valid (that’s how it would work in the civil law, where the case rightfully belongs). However, the court reasoning was the following: “Since the subject of the crime was the honour and the dignity of the President, the crime is targeted against the administrative order, the President himself is not a victim in this case…”.
As for the blogs/sites, the court confirmed that they belong to the media, still using the 1999 law on Mass Media: “sites in public communication networks are mass media”.
So much for free blogging.
Sentenced:
Toguzbayev Kasiz Kabdyshevich is guilty to a crime provided by article 318 para. 2 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and is sentenced to 2 years of suspended imprisonment.
on January 29th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
This case is far from being unambiguous. Mr Toguzbaev used to be a KNB Colonel and one of Nazarbaev’s intimate friends. Some say he was “appointed” as “oppositionist N1″.
But what is unambiguous is the following: it has turned out that a carrier of the President’s honor and dignity is… KNB. That’s a rare case, indeed!
on January 30th, 2007 at 10:54 am
Yes, Irene, I also found it hard to make sense out of this case. Was KNB instructed to start a case against him? Was it all planned? Or is Toguzbayev a genuine advocate for freedom of speech? But I think that at the end of the day, Toguzbayev has done a great job in challenging the “insult laws”, which do not have place in a modern country.
on February 1st, 2007 at 8:18 am
I think there is a couple of people in the country that could answer the questions. Unfortunately, we do not belong to them.
Another interesting aspect of the case: how many people in Kazakhstan have ever heard of the case? I mean here those people that are often called “electorate” and whose majority resides not in Almaty and have never heard of Toguzbaev, blogging, and to be honets, they do not care about all those things. What they care about is their salary and what they have got in their fridges.
I am sorry to say that but it’s true. I live in a small town, the most of its population work at a metallurgical plant. I have asked a couple of people (with higher education, smart guys!) about their opinion on Toguzbaev’s case, and they all asked me “Who is Toguzbaev?”