ASTANA – Kazakh Minister of Culture and Information Aida Balayeva denied reports about the alleged detention of the  Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu and several high-ranking officials of the Kazakh National Security Committee (NSC) in a Sept. 4 Facebook post.

She stressed that some official media and anonymous channels spread unconfirmed claims, reminding journalists of the need to verify information, uphold the presumption of innocence, and follow professional ethics. Dissemination of false information, she noted, entails administrative and criminal liability.

Aibek Smadiyarov, a spokesperson for the Kazakh Foreign Ministry, also confirmed that the news does not correspond to reality and called it a violation of journalistic ethics and national legislation.

The NSC press service also denied local media reports alleging the detention of several senior officials, stressing that the information is false. It also reminded that knowingly spreading false information is punishable under criminal law.