​National Press Club will open in Atyrau

By Abdilda Mukashev, Chairman of “Ak Zhaik" LLP

With this proposal I approached couple of months ago the President of the National Press Club Seitkazy Matayev, and immediately heard him saying "ok". It was only necessary to settle formalities: to formalize for a symbolical fee a franchize or use any other legal way to use a well-known brand in Atyrau.

We have already printed a banner with a press club logo, prepared space, purchased technical equipment, ordered office furniture...

But the mobile phone of the other party, that we had a preliminary agreement with, has been switched off for nearly a day. The Chairman of the Union of Journalists has been detained by anti-corruption agency.

I am not surprised, especially after the fact that in Pavlodar without a moment's hesitation they “slapped" 8 years of imprisonment to Yaroslav Golyshko, the editor of “Versiya" newspaper, for allegedly blackmailing and extortion of money from the regional Governor (!).

Some of the political scientists voiced opinions regarding the detention of Matayev, saying that he didn't have bad relations with anybody. This is news. As far as I got to know Seitkazy, he had figures of authority neither in opposition, nor in the power structures, except, perhaps, the first president, for whom he he worked as the first press secretary. Yes, he had and still has friends, acquaintances, but figures of authority - never, and that fact always enraged, probably, same prime ministers or the heads of Presidential Administration, leaving alone other chiefs.

“Bad" example of the chief journalist of Kazakhstan is infectious. Therefore there will be a National Press Club in Atyrau. We need somewhere a platform where we can do presentation of recently published by us Aron Atabek's collection of verses, of the poet who is for 10 years now (out of 18) serving his prison term for showing defiance to police for demolition of houses built by the poor in Shanyrak district in Almaty. As they say here in the west part of Kazakhstan: aren't we Kazakhs after all?