Kazakhstan: two more defenders detained ahead of elections

Event
Country
  • Kazakhstan
Initial Date
Nov 15, 2022
Event Description

Several opposition and rights activists have been detained across Kazakhstan as the day of an early presidential election scheduled for November 20 nears.

Police in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen on November 15 detained noted opposition activist Estai Qarashaev, who was sentenced to six days in jail several hours later on a charge of violating regulations for holding public gatherings.

Qarashaev was among oil workers who protested in 2011 to demand higher wages. Police brutally dispersed the protests, killing at least 16 people.

In the country's largest city, Almaty, on November 15, police detained Aset Abishev, a member of the founding committee of the Algha Qazaqstan (Forward, Kazakhstan) party that has been trying unsuccessfully for eight months to get registered for the election.

It is not clear why Abishev was detained. Last week, five other members of the unregistered party were detained for taking part in an unsanctioned rally in August.

Impact of Event
2
Gender of HRD
  • Man
Violation
  • (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
  • Judicial Harassment
Rights Concerned
  • Freedom of expression
    • Offline
  • Right to liberty and security
HRD
  • Pro-democracy defender
Perpetrator-State
  • Police
Source

RFERL

Monitoring Status
Pending
Event Location

Latitude: 43.340047942529424

Longitude: 52.86138745470867

Event Location
Summary for Publications

On 15 November 2022, Estai Qarashaev and Aset Abishevahead, pro-democracy defenders, were arrested by the police in a spate of arrest of government critics ahead of elections in Zhanaozen and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

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