Politically motivated conviction of the civil activist Yerbol Yeskhozhin

 

On 3 August 2021, judge Sabyrzhan KARIMOV illegally sentenced political prisoner Yerbol YESKHOZHIN to 2.5 years in prison in a politically motivated criminal case under Article 405 Part 1 ("organisation of an extremist organisation").
Prosecutor: ABYZHANOVA Laura.
Yerbol YESKHOZHIN is politically prosecuted for:
- Participation and calling for participation in peaceful protests;
- Publicly congratulating opposition politician Mukhtar ABLYAZOV on his birthday;
- Publicly announcing the establishment of a peaceful opposition movement, “Koshe Partiyasy”;
- Reposting of publications of the human rights movement Veritas on holding Asar, a collection of humanitarian aid for the families of political prisoners.
 
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**