Astana media congress’s delegates appealed to president of the Supreme Court with a request to release the Matayevs

Almaty. October 26. Silkroadnews – Astana media congress’s delegates appealed to president of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairat Mami with a request to dispense the Matayevs from imprisonment, the International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech Adil Soz reports.
“For more than a year and a half, the well-known Kazakhstani journalist Seytkazy Matayev, the head of the Journalists’ Union of Kazakhstan, has been imprisoned. Not to touch on the criminal case and the sentence imposed we ask to consider the issue of substitution of imprisonment for supervised release for Seytkazy and Asset Matayevs,” the appeal says.
Being a well-known journalist and public figure in Kazakhstan, former press secretary of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a person with high reputation, S. Matayev has an authority among the journalists and the public. Neither he nor his son could be considered as a socially dangerous, hardened criminals and do not pose a threat to the society, the document says.
The authors of the appeal point out to the international resonance of the Matayevs case and its impact on Kazakhstan’s image on the international arena.
“The Matayevs case, which has received international resonance, does not contribute to strengthening the image of Kazakhstan, and any manifestation of humanism to be made within the legal framework would contribute to counter-balance the accusations voiced against our state by foreign human rights organizations and mass media. Earlier such a manifestation was the reduction of the term of restriction of freedom within the framework of the amnesty announced, another move would be a substitution of the punishment,” the appeal says.
With this the appeal notes the need in medical assistance for S. Matayev.
“Substitution of imprisonment for supervised release would allow Seytkazy Matayev to get qualified medical care, including a surgery he is in desperate need of”, the document says.
The authors of the appeal reminded, on September 1, in his program speech at the opening of the fourth session of the Parliament, the President of Kazakhstan, N. Nazarbayev, defined “the humanization of criminal punishment” as one of the key components of the legal reform, “one of the starting points of realization of which could be the corresponding approach to the resonant and very dramatic “Matayev’s case””.
“Humanism is one of the fundamental principles of justice. We are sure following its principles in this extraordinary case is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate to both the Kazakhstani society and the whole world that the judicial system of Kazakhstan is based on the strict observance of the humanism. The ancient truth says: “Humanity is a practicing mind,”” the appeal says.