Controls on Print Houses Could be Used to Curb Media

Journalists in Kazakstan have spoken out against a bill that would require publishing houses to get a license from the government. NBCentralAsia analysts say these concerns are very real since the legislation could be used to curb freedom of speech.



On December 6, journalist’s associations and other non-government groups issued a warning that the legislation the culture and information ministry is proposing would make the country's publishing houses unnecessarily dependent on the state. The statement alleged that the aim was to narrow the publishing market and facilitate “political censorship”.



Most of the commentators interviewed by NBCentralAsia believe the journalists have a point. “It is patently obvious that the licensing of publishing will be used to put pressure on freedom of speech,” said Adil Jalilov, director of the MediaNet Centre for International Journalism.



Jalilov said that if the bill becomes law, the opposition media will find ways round it, for example by using the internet. “Such attempts have been made for many years now, and the journalistic profession has become inured to them and found ways of circumventing them,” he said.



Eduard Poletaev, editor-in-chief of the Mir Yevrazii journal, agreed, saying opposition media outlets will simply rely on electronic publishing rather than print. He believes the bill is designed to deprive the public of alternative sources of political news rather than to hound specific opposition papers.



“There is a trend towards exerting pressure on freedom of speech, but it is not currently directed against particular opposition papers or the people who write for them,” said Poletaev. “It is more about making it harder for readers to access them.”



NBCentralAsia analysts say the bill could draw criticism from OSCE members, who will vote next year on whether to accept Kazakstan’s application to chair the grouping in 2009. At their most recent meeting, OSCE member states were unable to reach a consensus on the chairmanship bid, and gave Kazakstan another year to carry out democratic reforms.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)