Press-release
On the fact of bodily injures inflicted on A.S.Platonov, "KTK" TV channel employee

[12:55] 20/08/2002,
http://engArticles.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=17755

On the night of 16 August, 2002, Arthur Stanislavovich Platonov, 1974, presenter of the program "Portrait of the Week", "KTK" TV channel, applied to Medeu District Police Department, stating that he had been beaten up by unidentified persons in front of his house at 128 Furmanov Str.

As a result of a preliminary verification of the facts, stated in the application, the police officers found out that on the same day around 22.20 PM, in front of the residential building No.128 Furmanov Str. a car crash situation was created with the cars "Opel Senator", belonging to A.S.Platonov, and "VAZ-2106", where there were unemployed A.M.Ayapov, 1950, Zh.Ibrahimkhanov and S.A.Utkelov, 1948 (pensioners of MIA of RK), involved.

According to the participants of the incident - former officers of MIA, who were in the "VAZ-2106", - the owner of the "Opel Senator", who had created a crash situation, responded to their remarks with unprintable swearing and used a gas spray can against them through the window of the car. In order to learn the reasons of such behaviour on the part of A.S.Platonov, previously unknown to them, they followed him to the above mentioned house block where they tried to settle the conflict. However, A.S.Platonov, having the doors of his car blocked, used his spray can again and called his father, S.P.Platonov, MIA pensioner, for help. The latter, recognising in one of the conflict participants S.A.Utkelov a colleague of his, proposed to everyone to go home. The incident was settled by then and the parties did not have any complaints against each other.

However, A.S.Platonov, despite the agreement between the conflicting parties on the peaceful solution of the problem called police, ambulance, and cameramen from "KTK" TV channel, trying to create this way a precedent for the mass media.

The conflict participants were hospitalised, according to the received injuries: Platonov - to the 5th Municipal Clinic and S.A.Utkelov - to the toxicological department of the Ambulance Clinic.

At the same time, despite the urgent measures, taken by the police for the investigation of the case, the journalists not possessing the full picture of what had happened started an information campaign in the mass media about the supposedly planned action of the police authorities against the employees of "KTK" TV channel and other mass media, persecution of journalists, violation of their rights and freedoms, which does not comply with reality. Therefore, even before the completion of the investigation the mass media employees, breached the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, started to create public opinion on the above mentioned incident, trying to impose their own subjective version of events to the population and harshly influence the investigation.

In order to establish the real reasons of the incident and to call guilty to account, the paperwork on this case has been forwarded to the Investigation office of Almaty Municipal Police Department. A criminal case has been started.

Press service of Almaty Municipal Police Department