A court in Almaty has ordered an advertising agency to pay damages for designing a controversial poster showing two 19th-century cultural icons kissing.
The complaint was brought by a group of musicians who claimed that the poster, which shows Kazakh composer Kurmangazy Sagyrbayuly and Russian poet Alexander Pushkin in an embrace, had hurt their feelings.
Yesterday’s ruling follows a legal battle in August, where it was agreed that the poster would not be shown in public.
The court told the agency to pay 34 million tenge (just over £116 000) to 34 music students and teachers from the Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory, local media reported. It also froze the company’s assets.
The ruling was branded as unfair by Dariya Khamitzhanova, the director of the Havas Worldwide Kazakhstan agency. “This 34 million will ruin our company,” she said, and vowed to appeal.
The controversial poster – advertising an Almaty gay club at the intersection of Kurmangazy and Pushkin streets, was inspired by a famous image of the leaders of East Germany and the Soviet Union kissing in 1979. It was designed for an advertising competition in August, but was never intended for the public domain.
When the picture started doing the rounds on social media, a public outcry ensued and three lawsuits were launched against the agency. Staff have repeatedly apologised for any offence caused.
The agency has already lost one case brought by Almaty city hall, which claimed the poster violated “moral values” by showing “nontraditional sexual relations, which are unacceptable to society”.
The agency was fined the equivalent of £620 for violating Kazakhstan’s advertising law, and Khamitzhanova was personally fined £434. A third case filed by someone claiming to be a descendent of Kurmangazy has yet to reach the courts.
Human rights groups have condemned the cases as an attack on freedom of speech. “Kazakhstan’s courts should be fair and impartial when asked to censor the right to free expression just because an image is offensive to some or causes discomfort,” Mihra Rittmann of Human Rights Watch said, adding that: “with this punitive ruling, the court has chosen to trample on free speech in Kazakhstan.”
The LGBT community faces pervasive discrimination in Kazakhstan. Last month nationalist politician Dauren Babamuratov called for a ban on homosexuals serving in the civil service and the army.
He also called for a law banning “gay propaganda”, similar to the one adopted in Russia last year. It is now moving through the legislature. Babamuratov also suggested that the wearing of “colourful pants and creative hairstyles” was a marker of homosexuality.
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