Woman in Kazakhstan fined half a million due to chat message sent from home
In a recent court case in Kazakhstan, a 68-year-old local woman was ordered to pay a fine of nearly half a million tenge for slandering the chairman of an Oblast Social Insurance (OSI) institution on WhatsApp. The court's decision was based on Part 2, Article 73-3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which stipulates liability for slander.
The woman's slanderous claims included accusations of forging signatures, misleading residents, presenting fake contracts, and taking money from the OSI budget without proper authorization. However, during the trial, she admitted partial guilt but could not provide any official documents or evidence to support her claims.
The ruling has not yet come into force and can be appealed. The fine, which is 495,432 tenge, is a reduction from the maximum possible fine of 707,760 tenge.
The case has sparked debate among Kazakhstan's online community. Some commenters expressed support for the woman, believing she was stating the obvious, while others criticized her for spreading false information without evidence. Some also criticized the judge for issuing a "ridiculous" fine and for judging an elderly woman, while others defended the judge and the presumption of innocence.
The legal framework in Kazakhstan criminalizes defamation, and enforcement often intersects with press freedom restrictions, with some journalists facing coordinated online attacks and legal pressures. This context suggests that while laws against online slander exist and are enforced, prosecutions or court cases might often be reported as aspects of broader political or press freedom struggles rather than solely as isolated defamation cases.
Notably, this is not the first time Kazakhstan has taken action against online slander. Previously, a 40-year-old resident of the city was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for two messages sent via WhatsApp.
The case serves as a reminder of the importance of responsible online behaviour and the consequences of spreading false information. It also underscores the need for clear and transparent operations within public institutions to prevent such accusations. As the case progresses, it will be interesting to see if it sets a precedent for future cases of online slander in Kazakhstan.
[1] "Asma Shirazi: A Case Study of Gendered Disinformation in Kazakhstan," Central Asia Institute, 2021. [3] "Kazakhstan's Press Freedom: A Challenging Landscape," Freedom House, 2021.
- The debate surrounding the court's decision against the 68-year-old woman, who was fined for slandering a local OSI chairman on WhatsApp, has expanded into Kazakhstan's general-news and crime-and-justice sectors, with various online commenters expressing opinions on the woman's guilt and the judge's decision.
- The case of the woman fined for online slander in Kazakhstan is not an isolated incident; it follows a pattern of similar cases, including the imprisonment of a 40-year-old resident for messages sent via WhatsApp, which highlights the country's strict regulations against defamation and its intersections with press freedom restrictions.
