In Almaty, journalists appealed to Prosecutor General and Chief Justice of Supreme Court to coordinate the examination of petitions and complaints by Asset Matayev

Beijing. March 19. Silkroadnews - Chairman of the Board of the Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan Seitkazy Matayev and President of the International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech “Adil Soz” Tamara Kaleyeva have submitted an open letter to Chief Justice of Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan Zhakip Asanov and Prosecutor General Kairat Kozhamzharov.

“We ask you to take a personal control of the appeals, claims and statements that Asset Matayev and his lawyers submitted to the Kapshagai City Court and Almaty regional courts, as well as to the Almaty regional prosecutor’s office, to coordinate to have impartial and equitable decision-making process,” the appeal statement says.

The appeal, as noted, have been caused by unjustified refusal of the Kapshagai City Court to change measure of restraint applied in relation to Asset Matayev.

“The appeal has been motivated by an unprecedented decision of the Kapshagai City Court, which on March 16, without explaining any legal grounds, refused to mitigate the punishment to the General Director of the KazTAG international news agency, Asset Seitkazievich Mataev,” the letter explains.

The authors highlight, all the terms and conditions required to move A. Matayev to the colony-settlement have been met, including the approval by the administration of the facility where he serves his sentence at present.

The authors consider the actions of the judiciary as a continued persecution of the journalist caused by his active citizenship.

“It is known that the Matayevs’ resonant case is being supervised by the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The decisions taken on their petitions by the court and the prosecutor’s office on the ground are coordinated with the senior authorities. We consider this approach as a continued persecution of the journalist who rejected accusations on all points, refused to admit their guilt and ask for forgiveness,” the document says.

Earlier it has been reported, on March 16, the Kapshagai City Court, without any explanations, refused to change a measure of restraint applied in relation to KazTAG General Director Asset Matayev despite the approval by the administration of the facility where he serves his sentence at present and no objections from the prosecutor.

To remind, on October 3, 2016, journalist Asset Matayev was sentenced to five years in prison for alleged fraud. A number of international journalistic and human rights organizations considered the verdict politically motivated.