ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Unknown assailants broke glass doors to the office of the Elmedia television channel in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, and left a large inscription of the channel's name in red on the sidewalk in front of the office in what employees believe was a warning to independent media just weeks ahead of a presidential election.
Elmedia said in a Telegram post that the media outlet's reporters discovered the broken doors and the inscription early on the morning of October 14 as they arrived to work.
"Police arrived at the site, but it is clear now that it is not just hooliganism or a child's misdeed. It is a harsh warning to journalists. There is no doubt that it is a premeditated attack similar to many attacks carried out against media companies recently," Elmedia's statement said.
The Almaty-based journalists' right group Adil Soz (A Just Word) said in a statement that Elmedia's website had suffered a massive cyberattack in recent weeks, while the telephones for the office and its chief editor, Gulzhan Erghalieva, were also hacked and added to a phone-sex service.
Less than two weeks earlier, the online newspaper Orda.kz, which is based in Almaty, received a parcel containing a severed pig’s head with a torn photo of the media outlet's chief editor, Gulnara Bazhkenova, in its mouth.
Both Elmedia and Orda.kz focus on political, economic, and social developments in the Central Asian nation.
Attacks on independent media outlets in the country have been frequent for years, especially ahead of presidential or parliamentary elections.
Kazakhstan is holding an early presidential election on November 20.
