Kazakhstan’s Minister of Culture and Information, Aida Balayeva, announced that the country protects mass media only when they do not violate the law. She made this statement in relation to the criminal case opened against the KazTag news agency.
KazTag had earlier published materials related to defrauded investors of the Freedom Finance company. This case was initiated based on a complaint filed by Freedom Finance.
The company claimed that the materials published by KazTag were untrue. Later, the CEO and principal shareholder of Freedom Holding Corp (FRHC), Timur Turlov, stated at a meeting with journalists in Almaty that KazTag publishes dozens of articles daily in a manner far from neutrality.
“Among them, there are many unusual cases. These are open attempts at manipulation. Manipulation of regulators and, in general, manipulation,” Turlov explained.
The businessman emphasized that they had tried to collect all evidence related to defamation. He stated that FRHC operates within the bounds of the law.
Additionally, Freedom Finance’s lawyer, Aleksandr Kamendrovskiy, accused law enforcement agencies of delaying the case concerning attacks against the company. “The inactivity of investigative bodies contradicts the constitutional principle of equality before the law and undermines public trust in the judicial system.
Instead of ensuring legality and maintaining legal order, artificial obstacles are being created. As a result, a legitimate and transparent participant in the financial market is forced to fight for years just to respond to defamatory articles,” said Aleksandr Kamendrovskiy.
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