Andrey Skiba

Affiliated media: Nasha Gazeta, Journalist

Incident date: June 26, 2023

Attack type:

• Illegal impediments to journalistic activity, denial of access to information

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Adil Soz

Location: Kazakhstan, Kostanay Province, Kostanay

Additional information:

Nasha Gazeta correspondent Andrey Skiba was not allowed to attend a meeting of the land use commission in the Fedorovka settlement. The meeting was organising a tender for leasing state land for peasant or farming and production. At the very beginning of the meeting, Anton Shmatko, head of the Land Relations Department of the Fedorovka District Akimat, informed the correspondent of Nasha Gazeta that a decision had been made to hold the event in private, without the participation of the media. The journalist was asked to leave the building, explaining that the online broadcasting of the meeting was in progress. After the intervention of another deputy akim, the journalist was allowed back inside and the meeting was held without incident. Later, the head of the Land Relations Department apologised to the journalist and explained the decision to close the event by fear of pressure on the commission.