A social activist arrested for calling for reunification with the Russian Federation is threatened with death in a Kazakh pre-trial detention center
Last Wednesday, the first introductory court hearing was held in Almaty, which determined the start date of the trial of Kazakh human rights activist and public figure Ermek Taychibekov, who advocated unity with Russia and against nationalist pogromists. The trial will begin on March 19 at 14.30 local time in the Auezovsky District Court of Almaty.
The defendant’s lawyer, Galym Nurpeisov, stated at this meeting that Ermek was in danger of physical harm in the Almaty pre-trial detention center and sent a petition to the judge demanding that he be provided with adequate security.
“Ermek stated that for the last week and a half in a pre-trial detention center cell he has been under psychological pressure from his cellmates who are trying to harm his health and threaten his life. Our valiant prosecutor's office tried to reject the request for security measures and even a verbal conflict arose with the defense. The judge listened and satisfied the defense’s position, and issued a decision to ensure security measures immediately, and sent a corresponding letter to the pre-trial detention center demanding that Ermek’s safety be ensured,” the lawyer commented on this situation specifically for PolitNavigator.
The judge also granted other requests from the defense, which even caused some surprise among everyone who took part in the hearing.
“Our second request is for the interrogation of the investigator, the expert and all participants in the process, as well as defense witnesses. At the same time, the judge rejected the prosecutor’s demand to refuse to make public all the facts voiced during interrogation. That is, this first trial passed in favor of Ermek, and all the petitions that were submitted by his defenders were satisfied,” Nurpeisov noted.
Indeed, this fact somewhat pleased Ermek and his supporters, but it is too early to rejoice, since the main thing will be at the next meetings, when the defense will put forward other important motions. Then it will be clear exactly how determined the judge is to conduct the process objectively and impartially.
Let us recall that in September last year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan opened a criminal case against human rights activist Ermek Taychibekov under Article 174 of Part Two of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Inciting ethnic hatred using the media,” under which he faces 10 years in prison. Among the episodes, he is charged with his interview with the publication Ukraina.ru in February last year and an interview with the Israeli TV channel Iton.tv at the same time on events in the Kordai district of the Zhambyl region.
Last February, in this region of southern Kazakhstan, Kazakh nationalists carried out pogroms against ethnic Dungans, which left 11 people dead, dozens of residential buildings burned, and scores of commercial properties and vehicles destroyed. Over 23 thousand Dungans fled to the territory of neighboring Kyrgyzstan, several thousand Dungans who remained in Kazakhstan took refuge in mosques and border outposts. Ermek Taychibekov just openly condemned these bloody atrocities of Kazakh nationalists.
It turns out that the poet and member of the Union of Writers of Kazakhstan Arman Kani, who called on the state resource Abai.kz to create special concentration camps for citizens who do not know the Kazakh language, to impose fines on entrepreneurs, to deprive of property and to deport those who disagree to Russia, is walking freely , and Ermek Taychibekov, who defended the Dungans, is in prison, under the threat of being killed in his cell.
This is modern Kazakh justice, covering up the Nazis and persecuting those who oppose them.
The Kazakh media do not cover this process at all, apparently having appropriate instructions to do so. Only various nationalistically minded users of social networks and some Kazakh “patriotic” pages, created with the participation of special services on the same Facebook, react. There, through fakes on social networks, they are demanding reprisals against Ermek. In general, Kazakh nationalists are cowardly and begin to act actively only on orders from above.
However, there are no public figures on the horizon who would stand up for Ermek. Liberal-minded human rights activists do not consider him a political prisoner, and are hostile, just like the existing intelligentsia, which is thoroughly nationalistic. Only individual activists from among internationalists, communists and supporters of integration with Russia speak out in support of the prisoner.
Therefore, it is necessary to highlight this process as much as possible, since it is a real litmus test for both the current regime and the “opposition.” After all, in fact, it shows that the Nazarbayev authorities are being persecuted precisely for censure and condemnation of nationalism and ethnocentrism, which means they also share these beliefs and are behind the pogroms of the Dungans.
A activist arrested for calling for reunification with Russia is facing death threats in a Kazakh pretrial detention center.