On November 7, the Almaty regional court left the verdict against journalist Duman Muhammedkarim unchanged. His lawyer Galym Nurpeyisov informed Azattik about this. In August of this year, the court of the first instance sentenced Duman Muhammedkarim to seven years in prison . In addition, he was banned from engaging in social and political work for three years.

"The seven-year prison sentence remained unchanged. The additional sentence was increased. The prosecutor requested in the court to ban Duman from visiting public places, meetings, participating, giving interviews to the media and other restrictions for three years. The judge complied with this request," lawyer Galym Nurpeyisov said on November 8. To freedom.

We asked the lawyer, "The court of the first instance banned Duman Muhammedkarim from engaging in social and political work for three years. And how does it differ from the ban imposed by the appeals court?" he asked.

Based on the court documents, the lawyer said that the restrictions imposed on Duman in the court of first instance: the types of services were not clearly specified, but this time they were clearly written. Among the places or platforms a journalist cannot participate in are "conferences, debates, television programs, including media, social networks and other telecommunications networks, strikes, peaceful gatherings, political parties, religious organizations, social movements, trade unions."

"This will actually be house arrest," said the lawyer.

According to the lawyer, at the appeal stage, Duman did not allow Muhammedkarim to fully familiarize himself with the case materials. Both the journalist and the lawyer consider the sentence illegal and plan to file a cassation appeal.

"The court did not consider our requests at all. The right was violated. We believe that the court fulfilled a political order," said the lawyer.

The Court of Appeal was closed. Supporters and media could not enter it. In the video published by the YouTube channel of The Qazaq Times, it is seen that activists gathered in front of the court building. They said "Freedom to Duman!" shouted. A special squad guarded the vicinity of the building.

According to the lawyer, the defense side left the journalist in Kapshagai, and then wrote a request to Astana asking to be transferred from there to Zarechny. No answer yet. Before that, the journalist was in Taldykorgan detention center.

There is no information about the court on the website of the Almaty regional court.

46-year-old journalist Duman Muhammedkarim worked in state channels for about 20 years. Worked as a press secretary of the akim of the West Kazakhstan region. From 2021 on YouTube "Ne Deidi?" opened a channel and began to publish various materials about social and political events in the country.

Duman Muhammedkarim became widely recognized in the political environment after the January 2022 incident. He is one of the few journalists who reported from the center of the chaos in Almaty during the massacre in which at least 238 people were killed.

Duman Muhammedkarim was arrested last June on charges of "financing extremism" and "interfering with the work of a banned organization." The reason for the criminal case was the journalist's interview with Mukhtar Ablyazov, an opposition politician who has been living abroad for many years, the leader of the "Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan" movement. In 2018, the court of Kazakhstan recognized the "KDT" movement as an "extremist organization" and banned its activities on the territory of the country. The European Parliament called the organization a "peaceful opposition movement".

Kazakh human rights defenders recognized Duman Muhammedkarim as a "political prisoner". Official Astana says "there are no political prisoners" in the country.