Affiliated media: Uralskweek.kz, Internet resource

Incident date: March 30, 2017

Attack type:

• Bullying, intimidation, pressure, threats of violence and death, including cyber-

Source: Adil Soz

Location: Kazakhstan, West Kazakhstan Province, Uralsk

Additional information:

Asylai Gubasheva, press secretary for the Interior Department of the West Kazakhstan Region (SKR), called the editorial office of the newspaper "Uralsk Week" and demanded to remove from its website (Uralskweek.kz) mention of the name of the deputy maslihat of the SKR from information about a fatal traffic accident and photos from the summary of the incident. Ms. Gubasheva explained her demand by the fact that journalists do not have the right to publish names and other information about those involved in the accident prior to court proceedings. The spokeswoman threatened that if the editor refused to comply with her demand, she would cease to perform her professional duties in relation to the publication. According to Uralsk Week, the editors of the newspaper "My City" may have received the same pressure, which first reported about the accident. Initially, the website of the newspaper "My City" published information with the name of the deputy, but after some time the text was edited and all mentions that the deputy was involved in the incident were removed.