The specialized inter-district administrative court of Astana is considering a case against the famous Kazakhstani showman Nurtas Adambay. The case concerns violations of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on religious activities and religious associations, TheCentral.Asia correspondent reports, citing the Court Office.
Nurtas Adambay is accused of violating the requirements for the construction of religious buildings (structures), as well as repurposing (changing the functional purpose) of buildings (structures) into religious buildings (structures). In accordance with paragraph 4 of Part 1 of Article 490 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Kazakhstan, for such violations, individuals are subject to a fine of 50 monthly calculation indices (MCI), which is 185 thousand tenge. For legal entities, a fine of 200 MCI is envisaged, which is 738 thousand tenge.
In addition, the materials published in the Judicial Cabinet also include paragraph 3 of part 1 of the same article 490. This paragraph concerns violations of the requirements for the import, production, release, publication, and/or distribution of religious literature and other materials of religious content, religious items. A fine of 50 MCI (184,600 tenge in 2024) is envisaged for these violations and 200 MCI (738,400 tenge in 2024) for legal entities, as well as suspension of activities for a period of three months.
The case was initially scheduled for August 1 and was planned to be held via mobile video conferencing via WhatsApp Messenger. However, as reported by the court’s press service in a recent update, the court hearing on Nurtas Adambay’s case was postponed indefinitely.
Nurtas Adambay is widely known in Kazakhstan for his film projects, such as Akim and Kelinka Sabina. In addition to his film work, Nurtas actively opposed LGBT propaganda and even asked President Tokayev to ban the screening of the cartoon Lightyear because of the LGBT scene in 2022.
Earlier, Nurtas Adambay published a series of posts on social networks where he asked for forgiveness from everyone whom he could offend with his actions, including the mass media and the presidents of Kazakhstan, Russia, and Belarus.