On September 16, the activist from Karakalpakstan Raisa Khudaibergenova was detained in the suburbs of Almaty. According to Vitaly Ponomarev (an expert at the Human Rights Center “Memorial”), the activist was detained by three people in civilian clothes. One of them introduced himself as Lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan Aidos Rasulov, the other two didn’t say their names only that they were ‘employees from Uzbekistan’.
The security forces took away the cardiologist during the reception of patients and now she is in the temporary detention facility in the city of Konaev, not far from Almaty.
Aman Sagidullayev (an opposition leader from Karakalpakstan, who lives in Norway, provided copies of documents from which it follows that 55-year-old Khudaibergenova was charged in absentia in Karakalpakstan under Article 159 part 1 (“Encroachment on the constitutional order) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. According to investigators, during the unrest in Nukus on July 2, 2022, the activist allegedly posted materials on YouTube calling for the seizure of power. And she did it allegedly in a state of alcoholic intoxication, ‘being on the administrative territory of the Republic of Karakalpakstan’.
According to relatives, the accusation was falsified, since Raisa wasn’t in Nukus during the last summer months. However, on August 19, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Karakalpakstan put the activist on the wanted list, and on August 23, the City Court of Nukus authorized her arrest, after which the authorities of the country sent a corresponding request to the Special Services of Kazakhstan.
According to the ACCA expert, she will face the same charges as the leader of Azatlyk party of Karakalpakstan, Zhankeldi Zhaksymbetov, along with the dissident Koshkarbay Toremuratov. Cases on the extradition of activists are now being considered by the Prosecutor’s Office of Almaty.
Earlier, ACCA wrote about their detention on September, 13. The authorities of Uzbekistan incriminate crimes under criminal Articles 244-1 “Manufacture, storage, distribution or demonstration of materials containing a threat to public security and public order” and Article 159 “Infringement on the constitutional order of the Republic of Uzbekistan”.
“These articles directly refer to the repressive practices of the Soviet period,” the ACCA expert notes. “We are talking about Stalin’s 58th Article (“Counter-revolutionary activity”), 70th (“Anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda”) and 190-1 (“Dissemination of deliberately false fabrications discrediting the Soviet state and social system”).
It’s not clear to Vitaly Ponomarev ‘what kind of Internet statements are incriminated by Khudaibergenova, and how dubious allegations about her alleged arrival at home and publications under the influence of alcohol are confirmed. It’s only indicated that by the materials of the criminal case, she is fully convicted of committing an intentional crime aimed at infringing on the constitutional order of the Republic of Uzbekistan’.
The security forces of Uzbekistan are trying to discredit the activists in this way. On July 4, the commander of the National Guard, Rustam Juraev, announced that 13 of the 14 civilians, who died, were under the influence of alcohol and drugs.
According to unconfirmed reports, on September 12, in the evening, police tried to detain several Karakalpak activists in Almaty, including blogger Nauryzbay Menlibaev, but he wasn’t at the place of registration. The telephone number of Ziyuar Mirmanbetova, who was allegedly visited by the police, is currently unavailable, but she hasn’t been detained. It becomes clear that due to fear of arrest, some Karakalpak activists in Almaty quickly changed their place of residence.
In addition to pandering to dubious accusations from Uzbek colleagues, the Interior Ministry of Kazakhstan has deported dozens of Uzbek citizens of Karakalpak origin in recent months. According to an ACCA source in Nukus, some of them are also under investigation.
The Uzbek media prefer not to write about the detentions, just to repost press releases from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but the Department is still silent. The main source of information about the situation is opposition groups and representatives of the Karakalpak diaspora in Kazakhstan.
“In the conditions of a real information vacuum, the authorities use the mechanism of revenge on the activists for rebelling against changes to the Constitution, which was postponed in the summer. When the authorities will definitely return to the issue of depriving the sovereignty of Karakalpakstan, there will be no more resistance to changes in July,” the ACCA expert sums up.
