In Petropavlovsk, two bloggers have been convicted of extortion against the Magnum and Semeyny retail chains.
According to the prosecutor's office of the North Kazakhstan region, they were accused of demanding money in exchange for stopping so-called "raids" and negative coverage on social media.
The defendants recorded their visits to these shops on their mobile phones, gathering information whose disclosure could harm the interests of the owners. They subsequently published the material on the social network Instagram and on a YouTube channel.
"The guilt of the convicted individuals has been proven by the testimony of victims and witnesses, the results of covert investigative actions, and other materials from the criminal case," the statement said.
In the end, the court found the bloggers guilty and sentenced each to 7 years' imprisonment.
Recall that 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 demanded 8 million tenge.
In February, in the village of Karabalyk, Karabalyk district, Kostanay region, blogger Mirshad Sarsenbayev was detained, suspected of extorting 15 million tenge.
In April, in Shymkent, a blogger was detained on suspicion of extorting 12 million tenge from a teacher at a secondary school.