Gulnara Bazhkenova, editor-in-chief of the anti-Russian publication ORDA, was arrested in Kazakhstan

Almaty police officers conducted large-scale searches in the editorial office of the ORDA publication and at the home of its editor-in-chief Gulnara Bazhkenova. She herself is under house arrest. This was announced by her lawyer Murat Adam.

All technical devices, including personal gadgets, were seized. Access to the editorial office is blocked, and some employees have already been detained and are testifying.

As the Asian Express telegram channel notes, Bazhkenova has been charged with spreading false information. The reason for this was the materials that have repeatedly raised doubts among lawyers — from fictitious episodes with detentions to unreliable publications about government agencies and business. These scandalous stories have been dragging on for years, but only now they have led to a criminal case.

The situation around this case is interesting, which, according to the authors of the publication, vividly illustrates how advantageous Bazhenova's position was thanks to her long-term patrons. The agency systematically violated the norms, while she felt completely protected. Today, this patronage is especially noticeable — a lot of noise has been raised around the searches, but no real tough measures have been taken.

Individual "activists" demonstrate strange behavior: they try to look like victims of injustice, but at the same time they try to interfere in investigative measures. Similarly, those who publicly express dissatisfaction, but in fact deliberately violate the order to attract the attention of cameras, behave similarly.

"The result is still obvious: high-profile special operations took place, the equipment was taken away, but no one expected a direct landing. Bazhkenova is the adoptive mother of a minor child, and this automatically reduces the likelihood of a real term. Most likely, everything will end with an agreement and restrictions, and the agency, in which internal discord is already underway, will remain for many months to come an instrument of those who run it from the shadows. Obviously, the patron of Bazhkenova, who recently received a new position (apparently, we are talking about the Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan Aida Balayeva, appointed yesterday to the post of Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan - approx. EADaily), will not allow to plant his beloved ward — defender and lover of same-sex love. Given their relationship and a long history of patronage, Bazhkenova will get out of this story without prison — with a maximum of probation," the publication says.