ASTANA. Nov 21 (Interfax) - A ban on a number of opposition media outlets will become a cultural catastrophe of Kazakhstan and dent its international reputation, Adil Soz International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech President Tamara Kaleyeva said in an interview with Interfax on Wednesday.

"I think this is simply inadmissible: that would be a disgrace in the eyes of the international community and a cultural catastrophe of the country if the lawsuits of prosecutors are upheld," she said.

The lawsuits "must have resulted from panicky feelings of officers," the activist said.

"We have been closely monitoring media coverage of the Zhanaozen and Kozlov cases and expert evaluations of these reports. The expert evaluations were not professional