About IFEX:

News by region:

IFEX Campaigns and Advocacy:

IFEX Email Products:

Alert

Journalist found guilty of "distributing false information" in article critical of judge, fined

(Adil Soz/IFEX) - On 12 March 2007, the city court of Taraz in southern Kazakhstan found Galina Vybornova, a journalist for "Express K" newspaper, guilty of distributing false information, aimed at insulting the honor and dignity of Judge Bolat Berikov, under article 129 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan. Vybornova was fined 218,400 tenge (approx. US$1,700) and obliged to stay in the country by the court, despite the documentary evidence she submitted to substantiate the content of her article.

The criminal charges were based on a complaint filed by Berikov following the publication of an 18 January article in "Express K", entitled "Taraz: bandits triumph". In his complaint, Berikov claimed that the journalist spread falsehoods by reporting that he was recorded while in a sauna together with an Ekibastuz criminal.

"Under Kazakh law and international standards, defamation is believed to involve information known to be false before being distributed, where the distributor intends to spread false information to insult the honor and dignity of person. However, the journalist had photographs and documents to verify her report. We believe that court verdict is unlawful. Another aspect is that the judge chose to bring the case to court, instead of trying to defend his honor publicly," said Adil Soz President Tamara Kaleyeva.