Jokhar Utebekov

Affiliated media: Almaty City Bar Association, Blogger

Incident date: December 21, 2018

Attack type:

• Fines and other restrictions following administrative offences

Source: Adil Soz

Location: Kazakhstan, Almaty Province, Almaty

Additional information:

A lawsuit to protect the business reputation of the Almaty City Bar Association against lawyer Jokhar Utebekov was considered in the Zhetysu District Court of Almaty. The reason for the proceedings was two of Utebekov's posts on Facebook, in which he, according to the plaintiff, disseminated false information that tarnished the business reputation of the ACBA Presidency - in particular, about receiving another threat from the ACBA, about the illegitimacy of the presidium of the city council and the phrases: "This bar is subject to the dead police and a corrupt court", "This bar serves the Criminal Code, which is soft to thieves of all stripes and rapists." On December 21st, the court partially granted the bar's claim. The controversial fragments of the posts were found to be untrue and tarnished the plaintiff's business reputation. The court ordered Utebekov to refute them on his personal page within 10 calendar days after the court's decision came into force and to keep the text of the refutation on the same page for one year.