Kazakhstan: media worker handed down 7-year prison sentence

Event
Country
  • Kazakhstan
Initial Date
Aug 2, 2024
Event Description

A court in Kazakhstan's southern town of Qonaev on August 2 sentenced journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim to 7 years in prison for financing an extremist group and participating in a banned group's activities, charges he rejects as politically motivated.

The court also banned Mukhammedkarim from performing public activities for three years.

Mukhammedkarim's lawyer, Ghalym Nurpeisov, said the ruling will be appealed.

A day earlier, Mukhammedkarim reiterated his innocence, stressing he criticized the government "only for the sake of Kazakhstan's further development, which is not a crime," his lawyers said.

While, Mukhammedkarim was delivering his final statement in the courtroom, dozens of his supporters chanted "Liberty! Liberty!" near the court building as the trial was held behind closed doors.

Impact of Event
1
Gender of HRD
  • Man
Violation
  • (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
  • Judicial Harassment
Rights Concerned
  • Freedom of expression
    • Offline
  • Right to liberty and security
HRD
  • Media Worker
Perpetrator-State
  • Judiciary
Source

RFERL

Monitoring Status
Pending
Event Location

Latitude: 43.85996792223729

Longitude: 77.04837719324807

Event Location
Summary for Publications

On 2 August 2024, Duman Mukhammedkarim, media worker, was sentenced to 7-year imprisonment on fabricated charges due to his criticism of the Government by a court in Qonaev, Kazakhstan.

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