Kazakhstan: pro-democracy defender sentenced to "freedom limitation"
Event- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2021
- Event Description
On 22 February, a court in the central city of Qaraghandy sentenced Kazakh activist, Asqar Nurmaghanov, to 18 months of "freedom limitation" -- a parole-like restriction -- after a court found him guilty of having ties with the Koshe party.
Kazakh authorities banned the party for having links with another outlawed grouping, the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement.
DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government. Kazakh authorities labeled DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018.
Several activists across the Central Asian nation have been handed "freedom limitation" sentences for their involvement in the activities of the Koshe Party and DVK, and for taking part in rallies organized by the two groups.
Human rights groups have said that Kazakhstan’s law on public gatherings contradicts international standards as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies even though the nation’s constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association
- Freedom of movement
- Offline
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 49.81990568341068
Longitude: 73.10144500742456
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 22 February 2021, Asqar Nurmaghanov, pro-democracy defender, was sentenced to six-month restriction on movement for his role in the pro-democracy movement in the country by a court in Qaraghandy, Kazakhstan.