Tag Archives: law

Kazakh court jails blogger for separatist web chat

NOV. 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in the town of Ridder, north- east Kazakhstan, imprisoned an internet blogger for five years for asking users on a popular social media website if they thought the east of the country should split and join Russia.

This is the first time that a new law banning separatist incitement has been used. The law was introduced in 2014 after the civil war in Ukraine broke out.

According to media reports, 26- year-old Igor Sychev, the blogger, has denied allegations that he was fomenting separatist feelings.

But this is an issue that the Kazakh authorities, up to President Nursultan Nazarbayev, are touchy about.

The north and east of Kazakhstan are populated mainly by ethnic Russians.

This population skew was one of the main reasons Mr Nazarbayev relocated his capital to Astana, in the centre of the country, from Almaty in the south in 1997 and he has spent much time re-working the history of the Kazakh state to be as inclusive as possible — without stretching the realms of possibility too much.

Nationalists in Russia have also increased tension by floating the idea of bringing north Kazakhstan into a Greater Russia.

On a trip to Pavlodar in the north of the country last year, though, it was clear to a Bulletin correspondent that for most ethnic Russians living in Kazakhstan, although their cultural centre of gravity may lie to the north in Russia, they still have faith in the Kazakh state.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)

Tajikistan discusses foreign bank accounts

NOV. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Possibly aimed at either cracking down on corruption or giving the under-pressure somoni currency a boost, Tajikistan’s parliament discussed a bill that would ban Tajik official from holding bank accounts or property overseas. Corruption is a major issue in Tajikistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)

Journo trial begins in Azerbaijan

NOV. 20 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Rauf Mirkadyrov, a high-profile journalist in Azerbaijan has gone on trial for high treason. He was extradited in April 2014 to Azerbaijan from Turkey. The West has been highly critical of Azerbaijan’s crackdown on media.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 257, published on Nov. 20 2015)

Azerbaijani court releases rights activist

NOV. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Baku released jailed human rights activist Arif Yunus from prison because of his failing health. Yunus will have to serve the rest of his sentence for various financial crimes under house arrest. He was sent to prison with his wife Leyla in August for 7 years. Leyla received a prison sentence of 8-1⁄2 years. Human rights campaigners have said they are political prisoners.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Georgia’s court reinstates Rustavi-2 TV management

NOV. 12 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Tbilisi reinstated the former management of the Rustavi-2 TV station, the focus of an ownership tug-of-war between supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition against supporters of the former government of the UNM party. Earlier this month a court handed control of the station to a pro-government businessman.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

Georgian court hands Rustavi-2 TV to pro-government owner

NOV. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Georgia handed the opposition leaning Rustavi-2 television station back to a pro-government businessman who owned it in 2004- 6, drawing accusations it was clamping down on free speech.

Two days after the ruling hundreds of people took to the streets of Tbilisi to protest against what they say is a crackdown on media freedom, ramping up tension in Georgia’s increasingly polarised society.

Under the court ruling, Kibar Kha- lvashi took back control of 60% of the shares in Rustavi-2, one of the most popular TV channels in Georgia, which he said he was pressured into selling to supporters of the then president Mikheil Saaskashvili.

“I declared at the beginning that it was my battle for justice. I want justice to be restored for everyone that suffered from Saakashvili’s regime,” media quoted Mr Khalvashi as saying. “This applies not only to Rustavi-2, but also to all other personal property that has been lost or confiscated.”

The other 40% of Rustavi2 is held by Panorama ltd. The current owners, two businessmen, have appealed the court’s decision.

The row over ownership of Rus- tavi-2 is just the latest increasingly bitter row between supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition and their opponents, mainly Mr Saakashvilil’s former party — the UNM.

The Georgian Dream coalition, bankrolled by Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, won a parliamentary election in Georgian in 2012 and a presidential election in 2013. Since then public prosecutors have accused various supporters of Mr Saaskashvili of crimes when they were in power, imprisoning them or chasing them out of the country.

The US and European governments have warned the Georgian government of pursuing vendettas.

On Friday, several hundred people again gathered outside the headquarters of the TV station.

“We will not let the so-called new management enter our premises,” Rustavi2’s news anchor Zaal Udu- mashvili told the AFP news agency. “We will defend Rustavi-2 physically, using all available legal means.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)

Kazakh government progress NGO law

NOV. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh Senate passed a bill that will regulate financing for NGOs, a move criticised by the West as cutting back on civil liberties. The new bill is similar to a law passed in Russia and limits NGOs’ access to funding from overseas.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)

Azerbaijani court consider Yunus appeal

NOV. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Azerbaijan was due to start considering an appeal by jailed human rights activists Leyla Yunus and Arif Yunus against their imprisonment in August for 8-1/2 and 7 years for various economic crimes. Human rights groups have said the authorities imprisoned Leyla and Arif Yunus to silence them.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)

Kazakh parliament passes mortgage bill

NOV. 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh parliament passed a bill which will ban mortgages being given in US dollars unless the applicant earns his or her salary in US dollars. The aim of the bill, which needs to be signed by Pres. Nursultan Nazarbayev before becoming law, is to reduce households exposure to potential bad debt and to give the ailing tenge currency a boost.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 255, published on Nov. 6 2015)

Georgia’s court relaxes marijuana laws

OCT. 25 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia moved a step closer to decriminalising the recreational use of marijuana after its Constitutional Court ruled that possessing 70g of the drug should not lead to a prison sentence.

The ruling means that Georgia now has some of the most lax laws on marijuana possession in the former Soviet Union.

The Constitutional Court was called to rule on the case of Beka Tsikarishvili who was arrested in 2013 and faced a prison sentence for carrying 69g of marijuana. His supporters have stage rallies which have attracted hundreds of people.

“The purchase and possession of marijuana for personal use does not qualify for a prison sentence,” the court said in a note on its website.

Previously, carrying 50-500g of marijuana could lead to a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

Supporters of decriminalising marijuana cheered the court’s decision, calling it a “huge step forward”.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 254, published on Oct. 30 2015)