Astana court backs ministry's refusal to disclose media grant spending
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A court in Astana ruled that the Ministry of Culture and Information may legally withhold the total amount of budget grants allocated to private media outlets. The decision came in response to a lawsuit by the Public Legal Media Center, which had requested the data in April 2026. The court did not require the ministry to name recipients or disclose individual grant sizes.
The Lawsuit
The Public Legal Media Center filed a lawsuit after the ministry refused to disclose the total budget grant amount for private media. The fund did not seek names of recipients or individual sums, only the aggregate figure. The court ruled the refusal lawful, citing unspecified legal grounds.
Legal Precedent
The decision sets a precedent for transparency of state media funding in Kazakhstan. According to Exclusive.kz, which reported the case, the ruling may limit future requests for aggregate budget data. The ministry argued that disclosure could harm commercial interests of private outlets.
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