Human Rights:
OUT OF PRISON, KAZAKHSTANI JOURNALIST SHRUGS OFF GOVERNMENT PRESSURE
Olivia Allison: 1/26/04

Though he has been released from prison, Kazakhstani opposition journalist Sergei Duvanov continues to experience pressure from authorities. Despite the possibility that he could be re-jailed at any time, Duvanov says he will not be deterred from investigating government corruption.

Citing good behavior, a Kazakhstani court sanctioned Duvanov’s transfer from prison to house arrest on January 15 after he had served one-third of his 3 ½-year sentence for raping a teenage girl. Duvanov has adamantly denied the charge, maintaining that the case against him was politically motivated and designed to silence his examinations of official misconduct. [For background see the EurasiaNet Insight archive]. The guilty verdict provoked an international outcry, and a Dutch expert who attended the trial wrote that “Duvanov was the victim of a political motivated secret operation of [Kazakhstani] security organs to discredit him.”

Under terms of Duvanov’s house arrest, he is allowed to resume work for his old employer, the Kazakhstan International Bureau of Human Rights and the Rule of Law (KIBHR). At the same time, he is subject to stringent restrictions, including a requirement that he be at his place of residence from 9pm to 6am every night. He is also prohibited from visiting public venues, including parks and restaurants. In addition, authorities can at any time revoke his house arrest status and return him to prison. Despite the restrictions, Duvanov said he plans to resume writing about corruption in Kazakhstan. “I will write what I wrote before,” he said. Prior to his arrest, Duvanov penned articles that exposed a top-level government corruption scandal that has been dubbed Kazakhgate. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Political observers in Kazakhstan said international pressure on Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s administration was largely responsible for prompting Duvanov’s transfer. US Secretary of State Colin Powell reportedly expressed concern about Duvanov in a letter to Nazarbayev dated November 17. In October, the European Union voiced its disapproval about Duvanov’s ongoing imprisonment.

Technically, Duvanov remains a prisoner who will be eligible for parole in July, when he will have served half his sentence. Under Kazakh law, prisoners may be moved to “lower-security facilities” after they have served one-third of their sentence with good behavior. In some cases, such as Duvanov’s, the “lower-security facility” turns out to be house arrest. Legal experts in Almaty say that authorities do not follow legislative guidelines in every case, and many convicts continue to serve their sentences in prisons long after they are eligible for transfer to other facilities.

Duvanov and Yevgeny Zhovtis, the KIBHR head, are continuing to press for a full acquittal in order to fully restore the opposition journalist’s reputation. Duvanov insisted that he would not be deterred by the threat of government retribution. “I am tired of being afraid, so I will not be in fear anymore. I know that it is possible to live there, in prison,” Duvanov said.

Meanwhile, officials in Kazakhstan reportedly continue to exert pressure on news outlets that publish unfavorable reports on government conduct. On January 22, the Assandi Times web site reported that an independent newspaper -- Diapzon, published in the western Aktyubinsk Region -- had come under considerable pressure from local authorities.

“Officials get very angry when we criticize the work of judges, prosecutors and law-enforcement agencies,” Marina Vasilyeva, Diapzon’s editor-in-chief told the Assandi Times. “The thing is that we decide ourselves what to report and what not to report. Officials cannot influence us in these terms since we are not a member of any political party, and no financial institutions support us.”