Mariya Melnikova

Affiliated media: Radio Azattyq, Journalist

Incident date: March 25, 2020

Attack type:

• Interrogation

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Adil Soz

Location: Kazakhstan, West Kazakhstan Province, Uralsk

Additional information:

On 25 March, Radio Azattyq reporter Mariya Melnikova was called in for interrogation to the West-Kazakhstan region police department in connection with spread of deliberately false information. She was called as a witness. At the police station she was learned that the reason for interrogation was her repost of a screenshot on Facebook on 24 March that was originally posted on Instagram. The photo shows Uralsk central square, taken from an angle that makes the statue to Abai disappear. The Instagram post was also followed by a caption: “Repairs of the Abai square. Beginning”.