Kazakhstan: detained pro-democracy defender sentenced to limitations on movement, use of social networks
Event- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Initial Date
- Aug 4, 2021
- Event Description
A court in northwestern Kazakhstan has sentenced an activist to two years of parole-like terms over ties to the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement amid an ongoing crackdown on support for that group and the associated Koshe (Street) party.
The DVK is led from abroad by fugitive former banker Mukhtar Ablyazov, the former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government.
Judge Zhanas Quanyshev, in a court in the city of Aqtobe on August 4, also barred the convicted man, Asqar Qalasov, from using social networks for the duration of his sentence.
Qalasov was detained in late March and placed under house arrest.
He rejects the charges against him, calling them politically motivated.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Censorship
- Judicial Harassment
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association
- Freedom of movement
- Offline
- Online
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 50.279582586598735
Longitude: 57.21151589546106
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 4 August 2021, Asqar Qalasov, pro-democracy defender, was sentenced to 2 years parole-like limitations on movement and barred from using social networks over his alleged involvement in a banned pro-democracy party by a court in Aqtobe, Kazakhstan.