“Kettling is a police tactic used to control crowds during demonstrations and protests. The protesters and those who happened to be nearby are encircled by the law enforcement agencies and they keep them for hours. Kettling has recently appeared in Kazakhstan and has quickly become one of the most effective ways to obstruct the work of journalists, ” writes Alimkhanova in the article “ In a boiling kettle: Kettling as a New Way to Disrupt Journalists in Kazakhstan ”published by the British Foundation.
According to human rights activists, kettling is unlawful detention, abuse of office and, if held for many hours, a violation of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Punishments.
"In fact, kettling is also obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of journalists, violation of freedom of speech and the right of citizens to receive information. On the election day in Kazakhstan on January 10, 2021, members of the initiative group for the creation of the Democratic Party and the Oyan, Qazaqstan movement were kept in a tight circle of the force officers for about 10 hours. The journalists tried to record what was happening and present events as objectively as possible. However, in our photos and videos, there were the backs of law enforcement officers instead of the faces of the protesters, the tape recorders recorded only music from the local stage instead of the comments of the protesters. On January 10, several of my colleagues got into kettling. At first they were not allowed to see the surrounded protesters, and then they were not allowed to go home, ”Alimkhanova said.
Among those caught in the cordon was a nursing mother, whose baby was crying at home.
“A young woman, my colleague, tried to film what was happening inside the 'safety ring', but a strong muscular guy from the cordon fiercely pushed her away. He knew that for obstructing the legitimate professional activities of a journalist (part 2 of Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan) he would not get any punishment- neither 2 years imprisonment , nor a fine of two thousand MCI (monthly calculation index), nor even detention," said the author.
Photo source: picture from an open source