Affiliated media: Tengrinews.kz, media owner

Incident date: October 10, 2024

Attack type:

• prosecution for violation of the honour, dignity and business reputation; violation of privacy following civil lawsuit

Who attacked: Non-authorities

Source: Adil soz

Location: Kazakhstan, Astana, Astana

Additional information:

The owners of 17 media outlets acted as third party witnesses for the defence in the lawsuit aiming to protect the reputation of the 'Kazakhstan Association of Bookmakers', against Majilis parliamentary representative Ruslan Berdenov. The reason for the court case is statements made by Berdenov which were quoted by the media. As the plaintiff remarks, the dissemination of defamatory statements took place not only in public speeches that the defendant made while fulfilling his parliamentary duties, but also via social media, on his Majilis site and on internet media. The plaintiff demands that the defendant recognize that his false statements about the increase of law-breaking on the grounds of gambling, suicide, etc are defamatory to the business reputation of gambling operators. The plaintiff also seeks the refutation of these statements in the media. On the 24th of October, an Astana court ruled in favour of the suit.