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O 121204Z MAY 09
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000828 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, SCA/PPD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ECON SOCI KDEM KPAO KMDR KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  MEDIA REACTION, APRIL 30 - May 6 
 
ASTANA 00000828  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  A draft law on Internet regulation, which passed the 
lower house of Parliament this week, drew a fusillade from 
opposition and independent media outlets who object to what they see 
as potential for overbearing government control over new media. 
Though the Internet law was the hot topic of the week, weeklies 
"Megapolis" and "Delovaya Nedelya" also addressed the H1N1 virus 
scare and the regional Aral Sea summit.  Pro-government "Liter" took 
a long look at the situation around Bank Turan Alem (BTA), which is 
coming under international financial pressure.  END SUMMARY. 
 
TEAR DOWN THIS WALL 
 
¶2.  Independent and opposition media banded together to attack the 
draft Internet regulation law that passed the lower house of 
Parliament earlier this week.  According to those who oppose it, the 
law allows the government to close any web site that bears 
proscribed commentary, even if the comments in question are posted 
by an unidentified reader.  In opposition, Russian-language 
"Respublika," human rights campaigner Yevgeniy Zhovtis drew an 
analogy between the proposed law and graffiti on a wall, saying that 
the owner of the wall could be held criminally liable.  "Substitute 
mass media for this wall.  If the authorities don't find who wrote 
the message, they just tear down this wall." 
 
¶3.  Independent, Russian-language "Vremya" published commentary by 
political observer Vadim Boreyko suggesting that if this draft law 
is adopted, "the Prosecutor General will first of all have to close 
Prime Minister Massimov's blog" since it contains accusations of 
corruption by many state officials.  He also points out that 
Kazakhstan's e-Government Center of Excellence site had nude 
pictures posted on it by an unknown person, and so would also have 
to be closed.  He goes on to say, "But everyone in Kazakhstan 
understands that this law will not apply to the Prime Minister's 
blog.  Kazakhstani justice is very selective.  Even the statue of 
Themis in Almaty near the Kazakhstani Humanitarian Law University 
wears no blindfold." 
 
¶4.  "Vremya" also provided a forum for free press advocate Tamara 
Kaleyeva, who said that after the Prosecutor General blocks 
everything "harmful" from the Kazakhstani Internet, "the 
intellectual food of Kazakhstan will be tasteless."  She said that 
Kazakhstani law has long defined criminal, civil, and administrative 
punishment for journalists, so "it is not a coincidence that 
Kazakhstani traditional mass media are so disciplined:  they march 
in line, sing in chorus, and do not write what they actually think," 
a fate that she now believes awaits Kazakhstani bloggers. 
¶5.  Independent, Russian-language "Panorama" presented the other 
side of the story.  A majority of parliamentarians supported the 
draft law on Internet regulation because they said they are tired of 
the flow of negative and often illegal information coming from the 
Internet.  "Panorama" quotes Parliamentarian Mukhtar Tinikeyev, who 
emphasized that democracy should not be equated with permissiveness. 
 "Read what people write in their (Internet) comments.  It is 
hair-raising.  They write those comments because they know they 
won't be punished," Tinikiyev said. 
WATER AGREEMENT EVAPORATES 
 
¶6.  Independent, Russian-language "Delovaya Nedelya" bemoaned the 
failure of Central Asian leaders at last week's Aral Sea summit in 
Almaty to solve "the region's main problem - the distribution of 
water resources."  The summit turned out to be "disappointing, 
disillusioning, and demonstrated the absence of unity."  The author 
believes that the regional water problem could unite the Central 
Asian states the way coal and steel united the nascent European 
Union.  But "the Aral Sea summit showed once more that the leaders 
do not understand the fact that until the region can solve its 
internal problems, it will continue to be a battlefield for someone 
else's vanity - a set of pawns that can be sacrificed without 
serious consequences.  The Almaty summit will enter history as a 
missed opportunity for Central Asian states to become the fingers of 
one strong and independent hand." 
 
 
ASTANA 00000828  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶7.  Pro-government, Russian-language "Megapolis" agreed with 
"Delovaya Nedelya's" assessment, stating that despite the joint 
statement signed at the summit, "Many observers agree that Central 
Asian leaders were not satisfied with the results."  The paper 
quoted the Director of the Development Institute of Kazakhstan, 
Magbat Spanov, who accused Central Asian states of "energy egoism" 
and speculated that conflicts over water resources will only grow 
and could "turn into military conflicts." 
 
FLU SEASON 
 
¶8.  "Delovaya Nedelya" reported on the outbreak of H1N1 influenza, 
or swine flu, and described the actions taken by U.S. President 
Obama and Russian Prime Minister Putin to prevent its spread.  It 
stated that the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Serik Akhmetov, 
is "convinced that swine flu will not penetrate into Kazakhstan" due 
to government vigilance.  The author said that "in the opinion of 
scientists, the current developments in Mexico reminds one of a 
similar situation in Mexico in 1918 which led to global epidemics of 
Spanish influenza and 20 million deaths."  Among anti-flu measures 
taken by different countries, the author mentioned that "Russia and 
China have stopped meat imports from the United States and Mexico. 
WHO experts, however, say that such measures are not necessary since 
it is impossible to become infected from eating meat." 
¶9.  "Megapolis" pointed out that the United States wants to change 
the name of "swine flu" to "H1N1" because it "is concerned that 
because of the name of the virus, many countries have banned 
American pork from their markets.  Now, American authorities are 
trying to convince the world that pork and swine flu are not 
connected.  'It is necessary to explain to people that the 
consumption of pork does not cause the virus,' U.S. Secretary of 
Agriculture Tom Vilsack said.  Veterinarians agree with Vilsack, 
saying that swine flu is not the proper name for this virus that can 
originate not only among pigs but also birds and humans." 
BTA STRESS TEST 
 
¶10.  Pro-government, Russian-language "Liter" published two analysis 
articles on the financial troubles of Kazakhstan's largest bank, 
Bank Turan Alem (BTA).  In the first, the author sees BTA and the 
government that nationalized the bank as losers in an "information 
war."  The author pointed out that the ousted head of BTA, Mukhtar 
Ablyazov, "fueled the flames by announcing himself to be a victim of 
political repression."  The article states, "Today, the foreign 
press believes his provocative statements more than it believes the 
bank's rare and short statements.  With so little information coming 
from bank officials, it is impossible for someone in London or New 
York to build an objective opinion about what is going on around the 
bank."  The author surmised that this information war failure led to 
Western creditors calling in BTA's loans. 
¶11.  In a second article, "Liter" explained to its readers that "all 
of the financial resources given to BTA were insured by special 
financial instruments called credit default swaps that insure 
corporations and banks receive a payoff in case of default.  When 
Morgan Stanley requested that BTA pay off its loan, BTA was unable 
to do it and thus was declared in partial default.  Many foreign 
experts agreed that Morgan Stanley is provoking BTA's default in 
order to cash in on credit default swaps.  BTA's default will change 
the American bank from a loser into a winner."  The author noted 
that the "excessive" use of credit default swaps helped bring on the 
financial crisis, and concluded, "However, instead of fighting the 
crisis honestly by rejecting the old rules and letting everyone 
responsible for issuing credit default swaps go bankrupt, the U.S 
government made a dishonest decision to legalize this financial 
disease." 
MILAS