In a twist, US State Dept. comes to Borat's defense

March 08, 2007|Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Borat, that crass chronicler of the American condition, has been singled out by the State Department as a victim of suppression in his homeland.

The department's annual human rights report criticizes Kazakhstan for taking action against the satirical website of Sacha Baron Cohen, creator of the fictional Kazakh journalist in the film "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." Baron Cohen also starred in the movie.

Specifically, the government took control of the registration of .kz Internet domains in 2005 and revoked Baron Cohen's domain because it deemed his site offensive, the report said.

The State Department cited independent Web media reports that the government of the former Soviet state in central Asia monitored e-mail and Internet activity, blocked or slowed access to opposition websites, and planted propaganda in Internet chat rooms.

"The government limited individuals' ability to criticize the country's leadership, and regional leaders attempted to limit local media outlets' criticism of them," said the report, released Tuesday.

The movie depicting Borat's pseudo-documentary wanderings across the United States became an unlikely hit and earned Baron Cohen a Golden Globe acting award. It also generated complaints that Baron Cohen duped his subjects into making racist and sexist remarks and portrayed Kazakhs in an unflattering light.