Bailiffs attack TV reporter inside parliament complex

Another journalist has been the target of a physical attack just three days after Igor Lara was badly beaten in the western city of Aktobe. Channel 31 reporter Zhulduz Tuleova was attacked by bailiffs yesterday in the capital, Astana, as she tried to cover Aktota Tucip’s eviction from her apartment within the national parliament complex one day after being fired as a civil servant. After Tuleova identified herself as a journalist, one of the bailiffs, Marat Bicenbekov, twisted her hands behind her back, grabbed her camera and threw her to the ground. He also confiscated her press ID. The assault was filmed by a member of the “For decent housing” NGO using his mobile phone. Channel 31 has filed a complaint. --------------------------- 24.03.2010 Independent newspaper reporter badly beaten near his home Reporters Without Borders is shocked by a physical attack on journalist Igor Lara and concerned about the press freedom situation in Kazakhstan. Lara, who works for the independent daily Svoboda Slova, was assaulted and repeatedly beaten by three unidentified men near his home in the western city of Aktobe on the evening of 22 March. The staff of his newspaper said the fact that his assailants did not take his mobile phone, camera, tape-recorder or money indicated that it was a targeted attack. Lara, who recently upset the authorities by covering a 19-day strike by 10,000 oil-workers in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen and the oil-industry’s problems both nationally and internationally, said his assailants told him: “Lara, this is a greeting from Zhanaozen.” This leaves little doubt that the attack was linked to his reporting. He is currently resting at home and recovering from the injuries he sustained in the attack, which include a broken nose, a broken jaw and multiple contusions to the head. Svoboda Slova has asked the police to carry out a thorough investigation into the attack. Reporters Without Borders also demands a full and impartial investigation aimed at identifying those responsible and bringing them to justice.