Kazakhstan has a paradoxical situation: citizens are punished for dissemination of religious non-extremist materials. One can even get fined for selling Quran or the New Testament on classifieds sites or for publishing an interview with the clergy.
This July, just before the Muslim holiday of Kurban Ait, journalist based in Petropavlovsk Rufiya Mustafina published the interview with the head imam of the Central Mosque “Kyzylzhar”, Khamzat Adilbekov.
“In the interview, the imam told about the traditions and culture of celebration of the official holiday of Kurban Ait [since 2006, Kurban Ait and the Orthodox Christmas have been days off in Kazakhstan – Editor]. The video was posted on my Facebook account,” Rufiya wrote on her Instagram.
This seemed to be a regular material of a journalist. However, after the publication, the police brought an administrative case against the media representative for dissemination of religious material in the “inappropriate place.”
The court found Mustafina guilty under paragraph 3 part 1, article 490, Code of Administrative Offences, namely breach of requirements to the dissemination of religious literature and other religious materials. The law “On religious activity and religious associations” contains the requirements. It prescribes the dissemination of such materials only in the places of worship, religious educational organisations or premises specifically designated by the authorities.
First, Mustafina was fined 50 minimum calculation indexes (MCIs). This is equal to 153 thousand tenge or 338 dollars (for legal entities, the fine is 200 MCIs – 636 thousand tenge or 1,358 dollars). Later, the court of appeal freed the journalist from punishment “due to de minimis infraction.” But the fact of the offence remained.
“If we look at internet sites as media, we can reach fines for greetings on Easter or Kurban Ait,” religious expert Aleksandr Antipin said to CABAR.asia.
The case of punishment of Rufiya Mustafina was the most high-profile case this year, but not the only one. According to the platform of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan, there were 107 administrative cases in 2022, which were considered under article 490 of the Code of Administrative Offences (103 in 2021, 118 in 2020).
Among hundreds of people who fell under this article is Tatiana, a resident of Ust-Kamenogorsk. She was fined for selling the book “Biblical Stories. The stories by Evangelists” via the private classifieds site, OLX. The woman said to court that she was selling the book because she did not need it. She did not even suspect that it was forbidden. The experts found the book religious, but not containing any illegal things.
Zarina, the owner of the Muslim clothing boutique in Akzhaik district, West Kazakhstan region, said to CABAR.asia that she sold books about salah “Namaz okyp uireneyik!” (Let’s learn to pray!) and about upbringing children in Islam, which she bought on the website kitapal.kz.
“I did not know that I would be fined for selling. I was warned by theologians, they said I may not sell it and that I should get the permit. But I did not think that an administrative case would be opened and they would take it seriously. I sold the books with the Muslim clothing and attributes. And then there was a trial and I was fined 500 MCIs (338 dollars),” Zarina said.
A similar case took place in Ust-Kamenogorsk, when the kiosk seller was punished for dissemination of religious literature. Although the woman in this case did not know that she could be punished.
Government officials are confident that punishments could be avoided if those people obtained special permits from the authorities.
“It is not difficult now to get the permit for dissemination of religious literature from the public development office or via egov.kz. It is free of charge in all cases,” said Nazerke Kopenova, head of the sector of interaction with religious associations of the domestic policy department of Ust-Kamenogorsk.
According to the Committee for Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan, they make all efforts to prevent illegal dissemination of religious literature.
“[To do that] we organise roundtable discussions, meetings, sessions, live broadcasts, lectures, interviews, briefings, and other events with participation of lecturers of awareness-raising groups on a regular basis. To cover maximum number of people, we publish relevant materials on the media and internet resources, place information billboards in crowded places, disseminate brochures, booklets and magazines,” the Committee said.
The situation of the ban on free dissemination of religious (not extremist) materials reflects the essence of the consolidated authoritarian regime of power in Kazakhstan. Such regimes traditionally try to control all public space, according to Evgeny Zhovtis, director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law.
He said that the law “On religious activity and religious associations” adopted in 2011 and related laws and regulations (the same article 490 of the Code of Administrative Offences) are repressive, and in fact constitute censorship, which is explicitly forbidden by the Constitution of Kazakhstan.
“Therefore, the attitude in our country to religious literature is discriminatory,” Zhovtis said and wondered, “Why doesn’t anyone check fiction, other non-religious materials that can also contain banned content or be provocative before publication?”
The authorities call measures taken as counteraction to religious extremism and terrorism. They explain the need for their activity by the increasing level of religiosity among the people of Kazakhstan, active work of doubtful preachers and organisations (including forbidden ones), as well as increased interest of people (especially, young people) to the internet and social media.
“Very often people with a low level of religious and legal literacy take information from internet resources, including dubious channels,” according to the Committee for Religious Affairs of the Ministry of Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
However, the attempts made – awareness raising and punishment – fail to bring the outcomes needed by the authorities. People still sell religious literature on classifieds sites and online bookstores.
“From time to time, they get caught for distribution of religious literature, but they, in my opinion, act selectively. Maybe, some are engaged in extorting money from some sellers when monitoring objects and platforms for religious literature selling, and ignoring others,” said Evgeny Zhovtis.
The human rights activist emphasised that the above laws and regulations have failed to fulfil their main tasks. For example, the law “On religious activity and religious associations” failed to make it easier for law-abiding religious associations and communities to live, while terrorists and extremists calling for violence face difficulties. Religious expert examination also cannot be called the key tool in fighting hate speech.
“It is necessary to fight real threats and not to impose criminal or administrative sanctions on those people who express their opinions, their religious views and exercise their right to freedom of conscience, religion or opinion,” said Evgeny Zhovtis.