Zhanna Baytelova

Affiliated media: Journalist

Incident date: March 20, 2023

Attack type:

• Fines and other restrictions following administrative offences

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Adil Soz

Location: Kazakhstan, Almaty, Almaty

Additional information:

On March 20, the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty found journalist Zhanna Baytelova guilty of an administrative offence of conducting a public opinion poll without complying with the requirements of the election law of Kazakhstan. The court imposed an administrative penalty on the journalist in the form of a fine of approximately USD 110. Baytelova did not plead guilty to the offence charged, explaining that on March 16, she had only sought the opinion of citizens regarding their intention to go or not to go to the elections in order to prepare a story for the Telegram channel RESPUBLICA.KZ.media, as she is a freelance journalist. Baytelova believes that she was carrying out her journalistic activities without violating the law, as this action is not prohibited by law.