Exclusive: Kazakh Journalist Tells Me He Took Money

It's always painful to me when a journalist admits he took money for a story. While this is highly unusual in the Western media, it happens quite often in post-Soviet countries, especially in Central Asia. The problem is arising now from a clash of cultures. While old style media is on the downward slide, a new style of blogging from amateurs is increasingly popular. These bloggers have no training as journalists. Many I've interviewed aren't interested in journalism ethics. They see no problem with taking money to support their work. 

But in several notable cases, Otabek Satoriy in Uzbekistan and now Makhambet Abzhan in Kazakhstan, taking money has put these amateur journalists/bloggers in severe jeopardy. Satoriy is already serving six years in prison. And though when he was initially arrested there was a large outcry that this was a muckraking journalist who was being suppressed by the government, eventually his unethical practices caused the media to turn the other way and drop support. Now, in Makhambet Abzhan's case, a similar situation is happening. ​

I had been following Abzhan's case since he was arrested on July 3. Abzhan and I had corresponded on Whatsapp only hours before he was arrested. We were setting up an interview to take place on July 5. Since his arrest, I have covered his initial court appearance and interviewed his attorneys and his fiancee.

Finally one of his attorneys admitted Abzhan had taken money—50 million tenge, the equivalent to $107,000—to delete a man's name from a published article on his Telegram channel. I wasn't about to out a journalist as unethical unless he confessed this to me directly. His attorney could have been setup by the government or any other kind of nefarious scenario. This is Kazakhstan. So I insisted his attorney have Abzhan answer my questions directly.

His attorney, Tolegen Shaikov, took my questions, translated into Russian, into the place Abzhan is being held and had him handwrite answers. In two pages of handwritten answers, Abzhan detailed how he was approached by an assistant to a businessman with an unusual proposal: delete the man's name from one of Abzhan's stories and he could name his price. Abzhan did name his price, thinking that such a big number would deter the businessman. But it didn't. 

This is where I like to point out that old adage that if something appears to be too good, it probably is. I think Abzhan wanted to believe he'd won the lottery with this proposition. Instead he garnered a jail cell. Now, in order to free himself, he has to confess to his unethical practices. As his attorney says, “This is a case of a journalist who was being unethical. But it is not a criminal case. Abzhan did not extort.”

That argument may work in court. But it won't earn him supporters in the journalism community in Kazakhstan. This morning I corresponded with an editor of one of Kazakhstan's independent media outlets. The journalist told me that his outlet probably won't cover Abzhan's case anymore. 

"It looked like the authoritarian regime was trying to repress an independent journalist," the editor said. "Now it is a completely different story."

I feel sorry for Abzhan. I feel sorry for his family, especially the woman he just married a month ago but whose marriage has not been officially registered. I suppose Abzhan felt he needed to come clean about what had happened. And if the proposal came from the businessman and not Abzhan, there isn't a criminal case. At this point, I'm sure Abzhan is more concerned about facing a possible eight years in prison. He's not thinking of how to restore his image as a journalist. That will come later. 

What other ethical journalists tell me is that cases such as Abzhan's make it harder for them to get the public to trust them. It makes their jobs that much harder in a place where getting people to speak out is hard enough as it is. 

I hope Abzhan is released from prison. And I also hope his case might be a warning to other bloggers who take money and see nothing wrong with their actions.