Kazakhstan on verge of harsh press law

Kazakhstan's upper house yesterday passed new media legislation despite criticism from the United States and others that the changes represented a setback to press freedom. The president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has to sign the amendments for the new law to come into effect. Two years ago he vetoed similar legislation after international criticism. If approved, reporters would be under tighter state control. Kazakh media are already under strong pressure from the state. The market is dominated by newspapers and TV stations which rarely criticise Nazarbayev who has ruled the former Soviet country since 1989. (Via today.reuters.co.uk)