New York, August 19, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists is shocked by the
eight-year prison sentence
handed down to Gulnara Bazhkenova, former editor-in-chief of independent outlet Orda, in Kazakhstan on August 18, and warns that this latest prosecution appears to be part of an escalating crackdown on the media ahead of elections this month.
An Almaty court convicted Bazhkenova, who has been under house arrest since December last year, on charges of criminal dissemination of false information, embezzlement, and illegal entrepreneurship. She denies the charges and plans to appeal.
The court deferred Bazhkenova’s jail term by two years on the grounds that she has a child who is a minor, but
applied
an additional five-year ban on “engaging in activities related to media, journalism, blogging, public events, and other forms of public engagement, as well as on holding managerial or financially responsible positions in media-related organizations,” it said.
“The draconian eight-year prison sentence handed down to Gulnara Bazhkenova is part of an alarming pattern of arrests and convictions that reveal the authorities’ determination to silence the press ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan on August 23,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director in New York. “Kazakh authorities must end their escalating crackdown on the press and allow Bazhkenova and other targeted journalists to work freely.”
Gulnara Bazhkenova presents the news on the Orda channel (Screenshot: Orda News/YouTube)
Armed Kazakh police
raided
the offices of Orda, one of Kazakhstan’s
largest
independent outlets, and arrested Bazhkenova on multiple charges of deliberate dissemination of false information in December 2025. Authorities later brought further charges of embezzlement and illegal entrepreneurship relating to her time at Orda.
Bazhkenova’s arrest came weeks after Orda published reports linking the country’s then-foreign minister to large-sc
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