May 18, 2022 Almaty
By the decision of the Expert Council of May 18, 2022, the following persons were recognized as political prisoners:
1. Ashtaev Zhanmurat is a civic activist from the city of Shymkent. He has been repeatedly held administratively liable for his active citizenship. According to the verdict of the Karatau district court dated June 1, 2021. Zh. Ashtaev was found guilty of committing crimes under Articles 296 and 405 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and sentenced to restriction of liberty for a period of 2 years. On January 08, 2022, Zh. Ashtaev was put under restraint in the form of detention on charges of committing crimes under Articles 269 and 272 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
2. Dosmambetova Lyazzat is a civic activist from the city of Shymkent. She has been repeatedly held administratively liable for her active citizenship. Earlier, on September 15, 2021, the Enbekshy district court found her guilty of committing a crime under Article 405 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and sentenced her to restriction of liberty for a period of 2.5 years. Since January 8, 2022, he has been kept in detention in the facility of ICH-167/11 in Shymkent on the charge of committing a crime under article 269 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
3. Irzhanuly Timur is a civic activist from the city of Semey. He has been repeatedly held administratively liable for his active citizenship. Earlier, on May 28, 2019, the Court № 2 of the city of Semey found him guilty of committing a crime under Article 405 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and sentenced to restriction of liberty for a period of 1 year. Since January 9, 2022, he has been kept in custody following an indictment on charges of committing crimes under Articles 269 and 272 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
4. Ishmukhamedov Farid is a civic activist from the city of Semey. He has been repeatedly brought to administrative responsibility for his active civic position. Earlier, on October 24, 2018, the Semey city court found him guilty of committing a crime under Article 405 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and sentenced him to restriction of liberty for a period of 1 year. Since January 8, 2022, he has been kept in detention on the charge of committing a crime under Articles 269 and 272 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
5. Namazbaev Danat is a blogger from the city of Almaty. On 14 March 2022, by a verdict of the Almaly district court of Almaty, Danat Namazbaev was found guilty of committing a crime under Article 179, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment. An appeal has been submitted.
6. Sultanbek Kairat is a civic activist from the Ordabasy district of the Turkestan region. He has been repeatedly held administratively liable for his active civic position. Earlier, on January 26, 2021, the Ordabasy district court found him guilty of committing a crime under Article 405 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and sentenced him to one year of restriction of liberty. Since January 7, 2022, he has been kept in detention on the charge of committing a crime under Articles 269 and 272 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
7. Sultanbekov Kenzhebek is a civic activist from the city of Semey. On January 5, 2022 he went to a peaceful rally, as he is the chairman of the cooperative of apartment owners in Semey and employees of the Akimat invited active citizens of the city to talk about social problems. Since January 7, 2022, he has been kept in detention on the charge of committing a crime under Articles 269 and 272 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Brief information about the persons on the list:
Zhanmurat Ashtaev
According to the available information, Zh. Ashtaev did not participate in peaceful protests in January 2022. He is a private taxi driver, and his car was captured on video during the days of unrest, when he was stuck in a traffic jam. On January 4, 2022 at about 5 p.m., Zh. Ashtaev left Shymkent with his family in his car and was in Uzynaryk village of the Turkestan region. On January 5-6, 2022, he was at his workplace. He did not take part in the rallies; this fact was confirmed by witnesses who were questioned in the course of the pre-trial investigation (statements of 13 people, photos and video recordings were provided to the investigating authorities). However, according to the lawyer, the investigation ignores all the arguments and facts, which suggests that the civic activist’s investigations are politically motivated.
Lyazzat Dosmambetova
L.Dosmambetova did not leave the house on the night of January 4-5, as her daughter said. On January 5, she did not go to the Shymkent city akimat, but was on the opposite side of the street, across the street, near residential houses. When a citizen with a gunshot wound was brought in, she rendered aid, gave CPR, and then, when she saw K.Sultanbek, they went to a cafe together, and from there Dosmambetova went back home.
Timur Irzhanuly
According to the information that was submitted to us, on January 05, 2022 at 5 p.m. Timur went to a peaceful rally. Young people gathered near the “Spartak” stadium, and Timur went straight to the akimat, where he met his friends. He took a microphone and was trying to calm down the youth, but as he himself is young, no one listened to him. He was speaking into the microphone: “Stop it! Don’t hurt anyone!”. Someone took the shield away from the policeman, but Timur gave the shield back. The akim of the city has left the place of the protests, and there were no people of older age who might be able to somehow affect the heated youth. They were all gone, only the youth were left. Timur’s actions on that day can be confirmed by the deputy Akim Aidos Sadyrbayev and by civic activist Rolan Mashpiev, who were also at the rally. There were practically no police all over the city at that time. On January 7, 2022 Irzhanuly went to the Auezov police department in Semey, to give evidence about the events, including the peaceful rally, which has turned into a mass riot. He was sent home, but on January 8, 2022 he was arrested. So far no irrefutable evidence of Irzhanuly’s participation in any violent action has been presented.
Farid Ishmukhamedov
According to the available information, the residents of the village of Vostochny, where Farid lives, call him their local akim. The residents of Vostochniy village, where Farid lives, call him their local akim. Because of him, the village where he lives has electricity and water, and all residents are proud of his civic engagement. Ishmukhamedov took part in a peaceful rally on January 05, 2022, and witnesses say that he tried his best not to let peaceful protests turn into riots, he tried to stop pogromists, arsonists and looters, and called on them to stop their illegal behavior; in other words, all his actions were peaceful in nature. Nevertheless, on January 08, 2022, he was arrested.
Danat Namazbaev
Namazbaev was convicted for his postings on the social media Facebook. An expert who has conducted an independent study of the texts of Namazbaev made the following conclusion: “The general thrust of Namazbaev’s texts was to inform the addressee about the content of the party’s attitudes regarding the fight against corruption, in these texts there are no appeals, both direct and indirect; these texts represent the author’s reflections about the contribution to the common cause of people who are connected by the same political views and beliefs”. But the court has disregarded this conclusion. Convicted Namazbaev was sentenced to serve his sentence in an institution of the penal system of medium security. D.Namazbaev has four dependent minor children.
Kairat Sultanbek
The fact that K. Sultanbek did not go to the city of Shymkent in the evening and that he did not organize any peaceful meeting on the night of 04.01.2022 can be confirmed by the evidence of his family members and staff members that he worked with. This could also be confirmed by the employees of Ordabasy District Police Department and the Department for Combating Extremism and Terrorism, who had been guarding K. Sultanbek 24 hours a day, as a public activist, in order to keep him from participating in the rally in support of Zhanaozen. According to available information on January 05, 2022 Sultanbek had managed to leave and between 9 and 11 p.m. K. Sultanbek was taking part in a peaceful rally 20 meters away from the Shymkent akimat building. When at about 10.30 p.m. a young Kazakh guy, who was standing in front of him, was killed by a shot to the heart, Sultanbek together with other citizens moved the dead man to the other side of the road, in the direction of residential houses of blue color, and there he saw Lyazzat Dosmambetova, whom he had been acquainted with. Then they went towards the mosque, caught a cab and drove to the cafe «BURGER BOSS», which is located across from the Temirlan-Taszholy 3 micro-district, and there they were talking for 2-3 hours about what they had seen and were getting over from the shock caused by the shooting of civilians. After which he left for the village of Temirlan. On January 7, 2022, he was arrested. So far no irrefutable evidence of Sultanbek’s participation in any violent action has been presented.
Kenzhebek Sultanbekov
According to the available information, though Sultanbekov participated in a peaceful rally on January 05, 2022, he did not commit any violent actions and did not take part in mass disturbances, but rather called on people to calm down and act in a peaceful way. Previously, for more than three years, he has repeatedly demanded that the authorities address the social problems of citizens. On January 06, 2022, Sultanbekov went to the Central Police Department and the Prosecutor’s Office in order to write a statement reporting unrest in the city, since there were people in the city who were setting vehicles on fire. He went there to ask why the police officers did not take any actions. In the words of Sultanbekov’s wife: “A police officer named Mukhtar Ashkhanov, when he saw my husband said to him, ‘Because of such scribes like you, all this started!’ and hit him in the face, then 5-6 police officers threw him to the ground and started beating him with batons. For a month after his arrest his relatives were not allowed to see him, to pass him medicines, food and other things. Kenzhebek has serious illnesses, such as diabetes and bronchial asthma”.
Expert Council:
Galym Ageleuov
Lukpan Akhmedyarov
Zauresh Battalova
Gulmira Birzhanova
Anara Ibraeva
Yevgeniy Zhovtis
Yerlan Kaliev
BakhytzhanToregozhina
Amangeldy Shormanbaev
May 18, 2022, Almaty
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