The authorities make arbitrary detentions of political activists of the well-known opposition party «Alga Kazakhstan».

Activists of a political party, which the government fears like fire, where it is confirmed with the fact that the authorities have never accepted the party’s applications for elections, were subjected to mass detentions on the day when its members announced peaceful meetings of citizens in the regional centers of the country on June 8 and 9 and submitted appropriate notifications to the government of the country. As expected, Tokayev’s authorities brazenly and illegally refused in all cases. Moreover, the authorities detained activists at their places of residence on designated days, which is confirmed by numerous videos on the Internet.

The demands that the activists intended to put forward at peaceful meetings:

• Release all political prisoners;
• Release Marat Zhylanbayev (Chairman of the organizing committee of the newly created opposition party «Alga Kazakhstan», seven-time record holder of the Guinness Book of Records. On May 25, 2023, Marat was illegally sent to jail. The authorities have opened a politically motivated case under article 405 part 2, which reads: «Participation in an extremist organization», and article 258 of Part 1: «financing the extremist activities»). In fact, the authorities are persecuting Marat Zhylanbayev for participating in peaceful actions and protests, where they say that Marat filed a notice to hold peaceful protests in order to «legitimize his illegal actions,» which is absolutely absurd, because the authorities thereby claim that notifications under the current legislation are illegal! The second voiced motive for the detention of a political activist is «criticism of the current authorities.» The third motive was announced as «the transfer of funds from public collections to a civil activist from the city of Shymkent to make an election contribution in February 2023 for registration as an independent candidate for deputies.*

*The elections are not recognized by the OSCE Commission (covered in previous articles on our website)

Having passed the first stage of registration as an independent deputy in the Majilis (Parliament), Marat Zhylanbayev organized a public fundraiser in connection with the need to make an election contribution. On February 4, 2023, Marat sent part of the collected funds to another political activist Zhanna Sarsenova from the city of Shymkent, who also applied for registration as a deputy. The Kazakh authorities have designated such a transfer of funds as «financing of extremist activities»!

Moreover, the investigator in the case of Marat announced that Zhanna Sarsenova is a member of the opposition organization «DVK» (opposition organization), which in fact cannot be true, because there are no court decisions on her recognition as a member of the «DVK». This statement on the part of the authorities is far-fetched in order to repress political activists and eradicate any rudiments of the country’s opposition.

We demand the release of all political prisoners in Kazakhstan and call on the authorities of democratic countries in Europe and the United States to influence the President of Kazakhstan K. Tokayev in order to establish fair and democratic elections in the country and the life of the nation as a whole !

#freekazakhnation #independentkazakhstan