Journalists' pressure group to assist in Duvanov trial

The Paris-based international pressure group Reporters Without Borders (RWB) told IRIN on Wednesday that it was seeking clarification from Astana following a government decision a day earlier to allow "foreign experts" to play a role in the trial of the prominent opposition journalist, Sergei Duvanov. "RWB has already written to the Kazakh general prosecutor to find out exactly what they mean by this," Soria Blatmann, the head of RWB's Europe desk, told IRIN from the French capital. Duvanov was charged with raping a 14-year-old girl in October, on the eve of a US lecture tour on media freedom and human rights in Kazakhstan. A well-known critic of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, he was investigated earlier this year for "offending the honour and dignity of the president", a serious crime in Kazakhstan. The investigation stemmed from an article he wrote accusing Nazarbayev and his family of financial abuses. This followed a presidential admission that he had spirited away US $1 billion in a Swiss bank account without parliamentary approval. A foreign ministry statement said on Tuesday that foreign experts could participate in Duvanov's trial, without identifying them or specifying what role they would play in the trial, which has been widely condemned as another clumsy attempt to silence Duvanov. "RWB is talking to the lawyers [of Duvanov] to see what help we can give them in the trial," Blatmann added. Leading Kazakh journalists have appealed to Nazarbayev for an "objective" investigation of the case. In their appeal, they accuse the authorities of "unprecedented persecution of the private media, including closures of newspapers, shots being fired at television installations, arson attacks on editorial offices and numerous unjustified inspections". Many independent newspapers and television stations have been closed this year, one newspaper office was burned down and shots were aimed at a TV tower. In a further indication that international pressure on the Kazakh government is having an impact, Astana also announced this week it had agreed to a request from the Canadian foreign ministry to allow the Ontario coroner's office to investigate the mysterious death in police custody of the daughter of another opposition reporter. "These cases are proving an embarrassment to the Kazakh government, but we must keep up real pressure until there is justice," Blatmann said.