CPJ says Kazakhstan’s new parliament should scrap rules restricting journalists’ access

London, September 7, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kazakhstan’s newly inaugurated parliament, or Kurultai, to scrap new rules that restrict journalists’ movements in the parliament building and limit their ability to question politicians.

The unicameral parliament, established by a new constitution passed earlier this year, was inaugurated on August 28. The new rules, reported by local media and rights groups, have been introduced amid an intensifying crackdown on independent media in the country. 

In a Facebook post on September 2, Bolat Kalyanbekov, deputy head of the Kurultai administrative office, said under new rules journalists would only be allowed to contact parliamentary deputies and government officials inside the parliament building during scheduled briefings in the press center. Previously, accredited journalists were allowed to talk freely to deputies in the halls and corridors. 

Kalyanbekov said that under what he called the “new format,” journalists would also only be allowed to ask questions related to the briefings’ specific agendas. 

“President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the creation of a unicameral parliament was part of a democratization drive. But these new restrictions, hot on the heels of the media crackdown that preceded August’s parliamentary elections, are yet another sign that conditions for Kazakh journalists are deteriorating rapidly,” said Fiona O’Brien, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia regional director. “Journalists must be free to question politicians and hold them to account; this watchdog role is critical in a democracy and Kazakhstan’s new parliament should respect it and repeal any rules that limit it.”

In a statement, four local media advocacy and human rights organizations expressed concern over the changes, stressing that it was normal media practice in democracies to allow journalists’ to “quickly approach a deputy after a sitting, ask a clarifying or inconvenient question, and obtain commentary on a hot topic.”

They also noted that the new restrictions were not reflected in accreditation rules or any other documents regulating journalists’ activity in parliament and said that “any restrictions affecting journalistic activity must have a clear legal basis, be formally established, and be applied according to clear and uniform rules.”

Local media quoted Kalyanbekov as saying that new rules were yet to be formalized by the Kurultai office and some details remained to be fixed. 

Similar restrictions were placed on journalists’ movements in Kazakhstan’s main government building in 2024. That same year, authorities passed amendments allowing state bodies to suspend journalists’ accreditations for alleged violations of those bodies’ rules.

Last month, CPJ joined eight local and international press freedom and human rights groups in sounding the alarm over escalating pressure on journalists ahead of the first Kurultai elections on August 23.

In the weeks before the vote, authorities jailed or convicted five journalists on major criminal charges and opened cases against two more. Among the convictions was an eight-year sentence handed down to prominent journalist and media manager Gulnara Bazhkenova.

CPJ emailed the Kurultai office, via Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which handles inquiries from foreign organizations, for clarification on the rules, but did not immediately receive a reply.