Politically motivated criminal persecutions of the civil activist Zhanibek Zhunusov

 

On 26 July 2021, a court trial in the politically motivated criminal case under Article 405 Part 2 ("participation in the activities of an extremist organisation") against civil activist Zhanibek Zhunusov took place. Judge Ibragim Alkenov illegally sentenced Zhanibek Zhunusov to 2 years of restriction of liberty, a 3-year ban on social and political activities (including publications on social networks) and imposed a forced payment of $65.

Prosecutor: Akhat Rasul.
 
Zhanibek Zhunusov is being prosecuted for:
 
1) On 3 September 2020, Zhanibek Zhunusov made a repost of the post written by opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov on Facebook: “DCK announces a protest to be held on 25 September”.
 
2) On 15 October 2020, Zhanibek Zhunusov made a repost of the post written by opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov on Facebook: “Regarding sanctions against Navalny and future sanctions against Nazarbayev. This is just the beginning. Recently the European Union imposed sanctions in relation to Lukashenko's circle”.
 
3) On 11 December 2020, Zhanibek Zhunusov made a repost of the post written by opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov on Facebook: “Why should we vote for Akzhol? I have conducted a series of live broadcasts explaining why we need to vote for Akzhol and go out to a mass protest on 10 January”.
 
4) On 25 December 2020, Zhanibek Zhunusov made a repost of the post written by opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov on Facebook: “We will shift the regime of Nazarbayev on 10 January. It depends on each of us whether we will be able to pull down Nazarbayev and his criminal gang. Following the instructions precisely we will achieve the result.” He also published a picture with the text “Get lost, Shal (Old man)! Shymkent.”
 
In its resolution of 11 February 2021, the European Parliament has condemned the abuse of anti-extremism legislation by the Kazakhstani authorities to persecute supporters of the peaceful opposition movements “DCK” and “Koshe Partiyasy” and called on the Kazakhstani authorities "to drop politically motivated charges and end all forms of arbitrary detention, reprisals and harassment against human rights activists,  religious organisations, civil society organisations, trade unions, journalists and political  opposition movements". 
We call on the US, the EU, the UK and Canada to impose personal sanctions on: the head of the National Security Committee, Karim Massimov; the General Prosecutor, Gizat Nurdauletov; and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Yerlan Turgumbayev.
 
DCK (Democratic Choice of Kazakhtstan opposition movement)* 
Koshe Partiyasy opposition movement**