AKIPRESS.COM - Kazakhstan has stepped up its campaign against independent journalists by imposing an 18-month jail sentence on the editor of a recently closed news website.

An Almaty court found Guzyal Baydalinova guilty of deliberately distributing false information on trouble at the country’s largest bank, Kazkommertsbank, according to media reports.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has slammed the verdict and demanded Baydalinova’s release.

Freedom House issued the following statement:

“Coming days after nationwide protests against the proposed land reform, and the arrest of the protest organizers last week, the verdict against Guzyal Baidalinova on spurious charges of libel is part of the Kazakhstan government’s crackdown on civil society and freedom of expression,” said Robert Herman, vice president for emergency assistance programs and multilateral initiatives.

“The international community should forcefully condemn government attacks on independent media and civil society.”

Guzyal Baidalinova is the head of Nakanune.kz, one of the country’s largest independent media outlets. In December of 2015, Baidalinova was arrested and Nakanune.kz’s offices were searched in response to a libel suit filed by Kazkommertsbank, accusing her and her website of spreading false information to purposefully hurt the institution. On May 23, a court found Baidalinova guilty and sentenced her to 18 months imprisonment and a fine of 144 million tenge.