Photo: kaztag.kz.
The Bostandyk District Court in Almaty has revoked the license of Murat Adam, the defense lawyer for ORDA.kz editor-in-chief Gulnara Bazhkenova, who is accused of disseminating false information, ORDA.kz reported.
The lawsuit against the lawyer was filed by the Ministry of Justice. The ministry sought the revocation of Adam’s license following a submission by the Interior Ministry, which alleged that he had spread inaccurate information on social media about the course of the investigation into Bazhkenova’s case.
After reviewing the arguments of both sides, the court found the claims to be substantiated and granted the request. Murat Adam and his defense team said they categorically disagreed with the ruling.
According to Vlast.kz, the lawsuit was based on 16 social media posts. These included statements about the lawyer being denied access to the case, the alleged unlawful house arrest of his client, claims of torture, coercion to sign documents without a lawyer present, the unlawful detention of Bazhkenova in an office, and the lack of oversight by investigative judges. Some of the posts cited were ones that Adam says he did not author.
In one of the posts, Adam wrote that he had been barred from investigative actions during searches at the ORDA.kz newsroom and at Gulnara Bazhkenova’s apartment. The ministry argued that this information was inaccurate because, at the time, Adam allegedly had not submitted formal notification of his participation as a defense lawyer and therefore was not a party to the proceedings. At the court hearing, Adam stated that he had arrived at the newsroom with the required notification. This was also confirmed in testimony by a witness from the Almaty City Bar Association.
In another post, the plaintiffs deemed Adam’s remarks toward investigators inappropriate. The post referred to the day of the search, stating that “some kind of bandits were standing there, one might say, refusing to identify themselves.”
In a further publication, Adam wrote about the need to decriminalize Article 274 of Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code, which concerns the dissemination of knowingly false information and which he described as “used by the authorities for punitive purposes to suppress independent media and freedom of speech.” Representatives of the Justice Department also considered this post to contain improper information.
The investigation into Gulnara Bazhkenova began in December last year. It was reported to be linked to “instances of repeated and deliberate dissemination of knowingly false information.” The ORDA.kz editor-in-chief is currently under house arrest.
