JournalismPakistan.com | Published 8 years ago
Join our WhatsApp channel
NEW YORK - Kazakh authorities should immediately release Zhanbolat Mamay, editor of the independent newspaper Sayasi kalam/Tribuna, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.
Police arrested Mamay, an outspoken government critic, in the capital Almaty on February 10, on suspicion of money laundering, Kazakh and regional media reported.
Mamay stands accused of illegally receiving funds from opposition leader and former head of BTA Bank Mukhtar Ablyazov, who faces similar charges in absentia from his exile in France, according to media reports and Kazakh government websites.
A February 10 statement published on the Kazakh National Anti-corruption Bureau’s website identifies Mamay as an “accomplice” of Ablyazov and accuses him of “laundering finances stolen by BTA Bank through financial operations of the newspaper Sayasi kalam/Tribuna” over the course of 2005-2009. If found guilty, Mamay faces up to seven years in prison.
On February 11, 2017, the Medeu Regional Court in Almaty placed the journalist under arrest for two months while the investigation continues, Kazkh media reported. In a statement Mamay gave to his lawyer, subsequently published by the human rights advocacy group Adil Soz, Mamay denied the charges and called the case “politically motivated” and an “an attempt to close the newspaper,” one of the last critical media outlets in Kazakhstan.
“Kazakhstan’s authorities have systematically cleansed the country’s news media of dissenting voices, and the arrest of Zhanbolat Mamay is one more step in that direction,” said Nina Ognianova, CPJ's Europe and Central Asia Program coordinator. “Kazkhstan should release the editor without delay and cease harassing him for his work.”
Mamay, who has written about official corruption and other sensitive issues, told the U.S.-government funded broadcast Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Kazakh-language service before his arrest that he was being followed, RFE/RL reported.
Ablyazov, who is wanted in Kazakhstan on charges of laundering some US $6 billion while he was the head of BTA Bank, today wrote on Facebook calling the charges against Mamay “absurd,” noting that he had never met the journalist, “who was 17-20 years old in the period of 2005-2009, when the money laundering allegedly took place.” The opposition leader denies the charges against him as well, and has for years fought Kazakhstan’s requests to extradite him. - Committee to Protect Journalists
November 06, 2025: Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announces jobs for 37 laid-off Nukta employees, saying they will be placed at digital platforms within 48 hours amid growing media uncertainty.
November 05, 2025: PTI’s Faisal Chaudhry’s witty reply to Gharidah Farooqi on GTV’s “G for Gharidah” goes viral as a clip from their debate over the 27th Amendment sparks reactions online.
November 05, 2025: Digital platform Nukta lays off 37 employees in Pakistan, including journalists and producers, highlighting the financial struggles facing new media ventures in a shrinking job market.
November 04, 2025: Talat Hussain denies airing the viral clip showing Sher Afzal Marwat’s vulgar remark, saying it was not part of his Samaa TV show.
November 03, 2025: PFUJ recalls November 3, 2007, as Pakistan’s darkest day under Musharraf, urging protection for journalists and the abolition of laws threatening press freedom.
November 02, 2025: PFUJ urges Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments to end Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists and ensure their safety and press freedom.
November 02, 2025: Impunity for crimes against journalists deepens worldwide as Pakistan reports a 60 percent surge in attacks and weak enforcement of safety laws.
November 01, 2025: Pakistan Press Foundation reports 137 attacks on journalists in 2025, highlighting rising threats, legal harassment, and censorship on the International Day to End Impunity.
November 05, 2025 The Pulitzer Center is offering global reporting grants for journalists worldwide, funding high-impact projects on underreported issues with rolling applications in 2025.
November 04, 2025 Journalist Rana Ayyub receives death threats over calls demanding a column on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as CPJ urges swift action to protect journalists in India.
November 04, 2025 TV8 journalist Mariana Rata in Moldova receives a death threat after interviewing politician Renato Usatii on-air, raising concerns about journalist safety.
November 03, 2025 Global journalist unions condemn the Indonesian agriculture minister’s lawsuit against Tempo, calling it a threat to press freedom and demanding that the case be withdrawn.
November 02, 2025 Independent outlet All About Macau to halt print and online operations amid rising pressure, financial strain, and legal threats, sparking press freedom concerns in the city.