AKIPRESS.COM - A court in Kazakhstan has ordered the closure of an independent magazine that has scrutinized the authorities over human rights issues and corruption.

The editors of "Adam bol" (Be a Human) say the Almaty court's decision to shut the periodical's print and online platforms was delivered to them on November 20.

The Almaty mayor's office told RFE/RL that the periodical was closed due to the magazine's violation of laws "banning the propagation of forceful change in the country's constitutional structure, threating its territorial integrity and security, as well as inciting ethnic, religious and social hatred."

Last year, publishing houses in Almaty, Kazakhstan's biggest city, refused to print the periodical -- which then was called "Adam Reader's," after it reported on the deadly clashes between police and protesting oil workers in the western town of Zhanaozen.

The periodical is led by Gulzhan Erghalieva (eds: a woman), a prominent journalist who has faced numerous intimidations by police in many years.