On July 2, the trial against former Orda editor-in-chief Gulnara Bazhkenova will begin in Almaty, according to Kazakh media. Vlatest report. She will be tried on charges under three separate articles of Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code. While it had long been known that charges related to the dissemination of knowingly false information would be heard, the other two allegations, illegal entrepreneurship and misappropriation of other people’s property, were only recently made public.
The trial begins seven months after Bazhkenova was arrested in Almaty and then placed under house arrest, while several work-related equipment was seized from her apartment. Meanwhile, Orda.kz offices in Astana and Almaty were raided by police and several of Bazhkenova’s colleagues. taken for interrogation.
This arrest sparked criticism from several international organizations, including Human rights monitoring and the Committee to Protect Journalists expressing concern over Bazhkenova’s arrest. In the months that followed, other legal battles unfolded, placing her then-lawyer Murat Adam more in the spotlight than Bazhkenova herself.
The case, which was originally scheduled to begin on June 26 but was postponed, has taken several turns in recent months, prompting observers to question the fairness of the trial. At the time of her arrest, it appeared that all charges against Bazhkenova related to the dissemination of knowingly false information related to Orda’s publications dating back to 2024, as reported RFE/RL. But since then, the scope of the case has widened.
In the months leading up to her arrest, pressure increased on Bazhkenova as Orda journalists were harassed by unknown actors. According to the outlet, this was a possible prelude to a hostile takeover of the organization by little-known Orda co-founder Maksat Ganiyev, as previously reported The diplomat.
Around that time, Bazhkenova contacted lawyer Murat Adam, who also ended up defending her during the first months after her arrest. Throughout December, Adam criticized his client’s arrest, notably claiming that she had been placed under house arrest without probable cause.
He also claimed that he was not allowed to participate in the investigation as a defense lawyer, that authorities allowed Ganiyev to take over Orda, and that they attempted to replace him as Bazhkenova’s lawyer.
Such claims put Adam himself in the spotlight when an Almaty court moved to revoke his license to practice law in mid-January. This followed a complaint about Adam’s online comments regarding Bazhkenova’s case.
In court, the plaintiffs presented 16 of these comments for judges to review, many of which Adam quickly reviewed. denied having written.
According to Adam, the proceedings against him were purely political and aimed at removing him from Bazhkenova’s defense. The now qualified lawyer expressed this opinion in an interview with The diplomat.
As the trial is about to begin, a new lawyer has been appointed to represent Bazhkenova by the Almaty city bar association. The new legal team will now have to deal not only with allegations of spreading knowingly false information, but also with accusations of illegal entrepreneurship and misappropriation of other people’s property, which have been recently added. These new accusations are linked to the controversy involving Ganiyev, who previously claimed that Bazhkenova mismanaged funds belonging to the media.
After the trial dates were made public, Orda’s new director Ganiyev spoke about the case in several articles on Telegram. In these articles, Ganiyev describes himself as the sole founder of Orda in 2020 while reaffirming his financial claims against Bazhkenova, demanding the “return of everything she owes me and took from the editorial team.”
Despite this, Ganiyev said that he personally did not want to see Bazhkenova deprived of his liberty.
With the trial opening this week, Bazhkenova’s fate may soon become clear. However, it will likely take more time to determine what impact this case will ultimately have on Kazakhstan’s media landscape.