Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Sanzhar Adilov promised to look into the situation concerning the surveillance of FBRK founder Kirill Pavlov.
The journalist reported being followed on the return journey from Kostanay, where he was forcibly taken on 14 November to attend a court hearing on an administrative case. Adilov commented on the surveillance issue in the Mazhilis of Parliament in response to an inquiry from an FBRK correspondent.
To recap, on 14 November Kirill Pavlov was forcibly taken to the Kostanay police department to hold a court hearing on an administrative case regarding the dissemination of false information.
The case was opened following a complaint from LLP «Sunkar Eavision International LLP», which accused FBRK journalists of lying after a publication about the cost of drones. The disputed information was taken from an official document on the government procurement portal.
The journalist was on a business trip when police officers came to his rented apartment and, under the pretext of taking a statement, took him to the station. The hearing was adjourned to 20 November, lasted more than two hours, but did not conclude. The continuation of the case hearing has been postponed to 3 December at 15:00.
Later, Pavlov reported being followed while travelling from Kostanay.
«On the way back from Kostanay, I was 'escorted' by two cars, which I managed to capture on video and identify the driver of one of them,» wrote the journalist.
On 26 November in the Mazhilis of Parliament, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Sanzhar Adilov answered questions from an FBRK correspondent regarding the police visit to Pavlov in Kostanay and the subsequent surveillance. Adilov promised to look into the situation.
«Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Adilov promised to look into the surveillance of me in Kostanay. Sanzhar Askenovich, an appeal to the Ministry of Internal Affairs was written on 19 November, it has now been redirected to the Kostanay Police Department,» commented Pavlov on his Telegram channel «Kazakh Chuvash».
To recap, the case was initiated under part 4 of article 456-2 of the Administrative Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan («Dissemination of false information»). On 13 October, the district inspector of the Yesil district in Astana drew up a charge sheet, which provides for a fine of up to 40 MCI (157,280 tenge) or arrest for up to 10 days.
The International Fund for the Protection of Freedom of Speech «Әділ сөз» previously conducted a legal analysis of the situation and concluded that holding journalists accountable for publishing information from official state sources contradicts the law.