On January 30, "Azattyk" radio filed an application with the specialized inter-district administrative court of Astana, demanding the annulment of the decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan for refusing to grant and extend accreditation to journalists of the publication, the national portal "Adyrna" reports, referring to the "Azattyk" website.
In the application, the delegation requested to annul the decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, which did not grant accreditation to Azattyk reporters or did not extend the accreditation period, as illegal.
The complaint against the ministry was filed on January 3, 2024, after RFE/RL received a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan "about the decision to refuse accreditation or extension of the accreditation period for 36 employees of the representative office."
In response, the agency claimed that the journalists had been "working without accreditation" and that the editorial office had been fined (rights activists likened the new article on "false information" to the Russian law on "fakes").
In the complaint, the representative of RFE/RL-Kazakhstan asked the court to recognize the evidence presented by the department as groundless, because according to the editors, they submitted the applications for the accreditation of journalists on time, the accreditation period for the journalists had not expired when the applications were to be considered, and the ministry left the requests unanswered. According to the information, applications for accreditation of employees were submitted long before the decision to bring the representative office to administrative responsibility, but they were "not considered in time".
