In Shymkent, police detained a local blogger suspected of extorting 10 million tenge from an akimat employee.
According to Polisia.kz, the suspect demanded money in exchange for refraining from publishing materials that allegedly could discredit the activities of state bodies. The investigation has initiated a criminal case on charges of extortion, and prosecutors have taken the proceedings under their supervision.
During searches at the suspect's residence and office, investigators seized electronic devices and other materials that may be relevant to the investigation. The suspect has been placed in a temporary detention facility.
This is not the first case of bloggers being detained on suspicion of extortion in Kazakhstan.
For context, in January, police in Almaty detained a businessman and two bloggers suspected of blackmail and threats to publish compromising material on social media. It was reported that the perpetrators had extorted 8 million tenge.
In February, in the village of Karabalyk, Karabalyk District, Kostanay Region, blogger Mirshad Sarsenbaev was detained on suspicion of extorting 15 million tenge.
In April, in Shymkent, a blogger suspected of extorting money from a teacher at a secondary school was detained.
In May, in Petropavlovsk, two bloggers were convicted of extortion from the retail chains Magnum and Semeyny. They were charged with demanding money in exchange for stopping so-called 'raids' and negative coverage on social media. The defendants recorded their visits to these stores on mobile phones, collecting information whose disclosure could harm the owners' interests.
In August, it was reported that police in the Turkistan Region had detained a blogger, public activist, and representative of the S-Inform newspaper, Rustam Ashetaev. He allegedly threatened to publish defamatory information about the victim on social media and received over 5 million tenge from him.
Journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov noted that Ashetaev had repeatedly criticised the leadership of the regional police in his publications, including General Kabdenov, claiming that he refused to meet with him.