OSCE media freedom representative asks Kazakhstan to withdraw Interior Ministry defamation proposals

VIENNA, 9 October 2007 - The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFOM), Miklós Haraszti, has asked the Kazakh Interior Minister to withdraw recent draft amendments to the country's defamation law.

"The proposed amendments seem to contravene Kazakhstan's OSCE commitments on freedom of the media on several counts," the Representative wrote in a letter to Minister Baurzhan Mukhamedzhanov.

In his letter, Haraszti reminded the Minister that the RFOM office is currently reviewing a draft Media Law from April, which carried different defamation proposals than the Ministry's new draft amendments.

"The Interior Ministry amendments, issued in late September, offer substantially less decriminalization than the Media Law draft from April this year, while the Civil Code proposals would only worsen the situation because they would make it possible to sue for damages even in cases involving truthful information," Haraszti said.

Specifying the shortcomings of the new defamation proposals, Haraszti added: "Although the Interior Ministry amendments eliminate the words "mass media" from the libel and insult provisions of the Criminal Code, journalists could still be prosecuted for professional mistakes. The amendments maintain special protection for the President. Criticism of some categories of public officials could still be punished with prison sentences."

He also underscored some of his earlier recommendations: "Safeguarding of free speech requires transfer of speech offences from the criminal into the civil-law domain, and the abolishment of special protections for officials."

Haraszti's office will soon submit a review of the April draft Media Law to the Kazakh authorities, and has emphasized that the office stands ready to co-operate with the Government in order to help ensure the compatibility of any new media-related legislation with OSCE commitments.