Kazakh rights activists register 84 freedom of speech violations in July
ALMATY. Aug 22 (Interfax) - The Adil Soz free speech advocacy group detected 84 violations of freedom of speech in Kazakhstan as part of its monitoring in July.
Among such instances, former employees of the Respublika media outlet said they had received threats from unknown persons who introduced themselves as special service officers, the foundation said in a report, which was published on Thursday.
In a separate development, journalist Alexander Kharlamov is facing a trial in the Kazakh town of Ridder on charges of inciting religious hatred, with all of the local print shops refusing to cooperate with the ADAM reader's magazine.
A total of 43 complaints and defamation lawsuits seeking over two billion tenge in damages have been filed against Kazakh media companies and citizens following the distribution and publication of certain information since the beginning of 2013, Adil Soz said.
Today's official exchange rate is 152.44 tenge/$1.
