Kazakhstan: Chief editor Zarina Akhmatova forced to resign to restore blocked HOLA News website
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October 21, 2021- HOLA News editor-in-chief Zarina Akhmatova and founders Alisher Kaidarov and Adilet Tursynbek were forced to resign after the website of the independent news network was made widely inaccessible for users. HOLA News was forced to remove its report on the Pandora Papers, implicating former president Nursultan Nazarbayev’s believed extra-marital partner Assel Kurmanbayeva as a beneficiary of secretive offshore payments, before its website was restored after 10 days. The Coalition For Women In Journalism is deeply concerned at this blatant infringement on press freedom. We extend solidarity to Zarina, and HOLA News founders and team, and demand that the news organization is allowed to operate independently without interference.
After HOLA News readers reported that the news platform was inaccessible, its leadership confirmed in a statement on October 6 that the website has been blocked. "The website has been blocked for the past 48 hours. The site is not available through all major internet providers in Kazakhstan". It further stated that programmers believe that the attack was carried out through "Deep Packet Inspection," a technology used to verify and filter the networks. The statement specified that a new team will be taking over control of the website established in 2018. HOLA News had thus far maintained independent editorial policies.
The website remained blocked for 10 days after its report on the Pandora Papers, which revealed a payment of $30 million to Kurmanbayeva in 2010 for a stake in a sham company in the British Virgin Islands. The deal reportedly involved two Kazakh oligarchs believed to be close aides of Nazarbayev. Neither the former president nor Kurmanbayeva responded to requests for comment, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) under which the global investigative report was published.
In an interview with a local YouTube channel, Zarina said she believes the news network was targeted for its repeated refusals to bend to the state’s narrative and the whims of the authorities. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Information and Communication has denied involvement in the suspension of the website. "Since the launch of the site in 2018, the main principle of our work has been the desire to speak honestly, objectively and without regard to those who decide that they know best how to do journalism," read the HOLA News leadership’s statement. “Circumstances developed in such a way that after 10 days of blocking, we had to give up our basic principle. We have removed the news from the site."
The statement did not specify which news was removed but an empty entry with the headline “Here was a title” reportedly replaced an October 4 article citing reports of secretive offshore payments to Kurmanbayeva.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism commends Zarina, Alisher Kaidarov and Adilet Tursynbek, and their team at HOLA News for their courageous past stances. We stand in solidarity with the now former leadership of HOLA News. We urge the Kazakh authorities to immediately investigate the blocking of the website and bring to account those responsible. Attempts to obstruct and interfere with the reportage of an independent news network, referencing a global investigation, are condemnable and cannot be tolerated. Such tactics are in violation of the freedom of the press, the right to information and freedom of speech.
