Maria Melnikova

Affiliated media: Radio “Azattyk”, Journalist

Incident date: February 29, 2020

Attack type:

• Interrogation

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Adil Soz

Location: Kazakhstan, West Kazakhstan Province, Uralsk

Additional information:

On the evening of the 29th of February, police officers summoned Maria Melnikova, a reporter for “Azattyk”, to appear for questioning on the 1st of March under a criminal case about the sharing of extremist information on social media. Lukpan Ahmedyarov, the Chief Editor of “Uralskaya Nedelya” (Uralsk Week) , received the same summons. The journalists have judged this to be an impediment on journalistic activity, since it was known that an unsanctioned protest was scheduled for the 1st of March. Lukpan Ahmegyarov wrote to the police department with this concern.