Three-month suspension of independent magazine in Kazakhstan raises press freedom alarms

• Adam (Person) magazine, known for its critique of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s administration, was handed a three-month suspension by the government for publishing only in Russian when it claimed to publish in both the Russian and Kazakh languages.
• Press freedom watchdogs claim such bureaucratic tactics are frequently used to shutter independent journalism, with Kazakhstan sitting at 160th among the 177 countries ranked by Reporters Without Borders.
• The suspension follows a libel conviction likely to bankrupt an independent journalist for reporting on alleged corruption in the city of Almaty’s construction industry.

“In Kazakhstan the closure of any media outlet is a matter decided by political bodies. … Of course this is connected to politics.”

Read the full story at EurasiaNet.