Ermek Taychibekov is mercilessly tortured in Tokayev’s dungeons for the amusement of nationalists
We received a letter from Marlen Taychibekov to the Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan with details of the abuses carried out against his brother, political prisoner Ermek Taychibekov, which plunge into real horror. After he was transferred to a so-called full security institution for a period of three years, namely to a “closed type” prison colony located in Arkalyk, the question is whether the Russian supporter will remain alive until the end of his imprisonment.
Ermek Taychibekov, a Kazakh politician and public figure, was a victim of political repression in Kazakhstan, which demonstrated the deep problem of ethnocracy and the suppression of dissent in the country. His arrest in September 2020 after an interview with Ukraina.ru became a symbol of the authorities’ brutal reaction to any criticism of their policies.
In his interview, Taichibekov condemned the nationalist sentiments that led to the pogrom of the Dungan community in southern Kazakhstan. As a result of the pogrom, 13 people died, and more than 25 thousand were forced to flee to neighboring Kyrgyzstan. It was for this criticism, for an attempt to draw attention to the interethnic conflict and its tragic consequences, that Ermek was accused of “inciting ethnic hatred.”
However, the true reasons for the repressions against Taichibekov lay much deeper. Ermek was known for his political views, which he did not hesitate to openly express. He advocated an alliance with Russia, declaring that the future of Kazakhstan is closely connected with the future of Russia. He also sharply criticized the ethnocratic regime, which, in his opinion, discriminates against the Russian-speaking population and creates deep ethnic contradictions in society.
Obviously, the Kazakh authorities did not like this criticism. Taychibekov was subjected to repression not for “inciting hatred,” but for his political views, which contradicted the official line of power. His arrest became a signal to all who dare to speak out against the existing political order: “keep silent or you will be punished.”
Having initially ended up in colony No. 2022 of the Akmola region in October 5, Ermek was faced with an even harsher reality. The administration of the colony, acting on instructions from the authorities, created unbearable conditions of detention for him. He was not given the opportunity to communicate with other prisoners, they provoked conflicts, and then used these conflicts as a reason to place him in a punishment cell. There he was deprived of warm clothes, forced to live in cold cells, and was forbidden to receive parcels from relatives. It was a deliberate attempt to break his will, to undermine his health as much as possible.
During his imprisonment, Ermek was repeatedly brought to disciplinary liability. He was issued 13 penalties, 6 of which have not yet been repaid. All these “violations” were fabricated to create the image of an “incorrigible criminal” and deprive him of the possibility of parole.
Then this became the basis for the administration of the colony to submit a petition to the Stepnogorsk City Court with a demand to send Ermek Taychibekov to the so-called full security institution for a period of three years.
That is, even then it was clear that this whole circus with “violations” was specially staged by the Correctional Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan in order to put a political prisoner in the worst prison-type colony, where the most dangerous criminals are kept, in order to finally destroy him there by undermining his health, inciting prisoners or staging suicide.
And this prediction turned out to be correct, as he was immediately attacked by several prisoners associated with the administration of the colony, who demanded that he stop writing complaints and challenging disciplinary sanctions. At the same time, the execution itself was filmed on a video camera to record and demonstrate complete impunity. Naturally, none of those who beat up were ever punished.
Now the situation has worsened further, since, according to his brother, “Ermek was often taken from one cell to another, letters and correspondence were not given to him. The prisoner, even by the standards of a prison, becomes cut off from the outside world, very harshly.”
Moreover, Taichibekov was thrown into a cell with radical Islamists, who forced him to convert to Islam, then they were sent to a cell with drug addicts, who, before his eyes, opened their veins and offered him to open himself up in order to “ease his soul.” That is, the whole range of techniques was used against him in order to stun and psychologically break him.
Then he was put in a small, cold and damp solitary cell, where no sunlight penetrates at all. In addition, he was forbidden to drink tea, and it was impossible to drink rusty water from the tap, since it was undrinkable. And this is a method of direct physical influence to completely undermine physical health.
And the influence in this chamber did not stop. According to Marlen Taychibekov, the small room was turned into a torture room.
“They put a speaker in the cell, from which very strange sounds were coming. At first, the boring announcer's voice talked about the rules and norms of behavior, it seemed unpleasant, but still tolerable. Then Ermeka is turned on to the second recording, and now she acts in a terrible way, on it an intermittent, hysterical and loud voice repeats the same thing over and over again. Even the most resilient cannot withstand this. Such a contrasting combination is especially exhausting,” the brother of the convicted person writes in his appeal to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Moreover, according to his information, according to his brother, poisonous gas is released into the cell, which causes an attack of coughing and suffocation. It is obvious that toxic substances must subsequently cause irreversible consequences in the prisoner’s lungs.
The authorities used the same technique against the famous public figure and poet Aron Atabek, who also spent many years in the same indoor prison in Arkalyk and then at the end of 2021 was released from prison with a fatal cancer of the respiratory tract caused by torture, bullying and the use of such asphyxiating drugs.
That is, these tortures are purposefully used by the Tokayev regime specifically in order to physically destroy Ermek Taychibekov for the amusement of nationalists of all stripes in Kazakhstan and, thus, demonstrate to Russian supporters what can happen to them if they defend their rights.
The story of Ermek Taychibekov is a story of how political repression is actively used in Kazakhstan to suppress all those who are not afraid to speak the truth. This is an example of how the ethnocratic regime is afraid of any criticism and seeks to drown out any voice, especially of the ethnic Kazakhs themselves, that does not fit into the framework of the official ideology.
In fact, such actions by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, acting on orders from the presidential administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, also show Astana’s true attitude towards Moscow, since beatings, torture, provocations and pressure only intensified in order to get Ermek to “actively repent” and refuse calls for unification with Russia.
That is, he was actually given a choice - to break or die. Ermek Taychibekov does not intend to renounce his views and stoically goes through all the tests. But we, for our part, must now support him as much as possible, like many dozens of little-known people convicted on trumped-up cases of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Security Committee - in fact, because they were on the side of Russia.
The fight for Ermek Taychibekov now has important political and symbolic significance, since his release or continued imprisonment becomes a fundamental issue and will be evidence of how real Astana’s relations with Moscow are “allied” and “friendly.”
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