Kazakhstan: the arrest of activist Ilyashev is a public intimidation
The detention, followed by the arrest of civil activist Alnur Ilyashev, is a demonstration of power by the Kazakh authorities and an attempt to intimidate society. This opinion was expressed by Yevgeny Zhovtis (a well-known human rights activist and director of the Kazakhstan’s International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law) at the press conference concerning the arrest of Ilyashev.
Recall, as ACCA already reported, at the end of last week, journalist and media manager Arman Shuraev and civil activist Alnur Ilyashev were detained. Both were detained on charges of disseminating knowingly false information. As a preventive measure, the court chose a recognizance not to leave for Arman Shuraev, but Ilyashev was authorized to be arrested for a period of two months.
Meanwhile, according to the lawyer Nurlan Rakhmanov, representing Ilyashev’s interests, his client is only to blame for calling on the current government to resign and criticizing the party “Nur Otan”. It should be noted that the party “Nur Otan”, created and led by the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbaev, is the dominant political force in the country. Almost all Kazakh officials and employees of state institutions are members of this party.
According to the case file, Ilyashev published posts on social networks containing negative information about the public association “Nur Otan party”. Moreover, the police argued that Ilyashev’s arrest was that if he was free, he could create a “protest mood in society”.
Meanwhile, as activist’s brother Dos Ilyashev said at the press conference, Alnur was detained at the moment he left work. After that, the police searched four addresses related to Alnur, including his parents’ house.
“Someone rang the doorbell, introduced himself as a pizza deliveryman. Suspecting nothing, our father opened the door. As in the films, the “work” command sounded. Parents were tied up. Our mother was beaten. We are not terrorists or extremists, and we got a real show. Then the investigator came in and gave the order to stop breaking people. And only after that the police turned on their cameras. As I understand it, the task of the special rapid response unit was to withdraw the means of photo and video recording. They rummaged through everything. About 30 police officers were involved in this operation, to search the parents’ house. The police took out all computers, tablets, mobile phones. They took out all the equipment from the office of Alnur. Now the company, where he works, is really paralyzed,” said Dos Ilyashev.
At the same time, the lawyer Nurlan Rakhmanov added that he didn’t understand why the special rapid response unit was involved in the search, if his client was already in custody by that time.
“I can’t understand what were the reasons for involving the special rapid response unit in searches and intimidating civilian residents – members of the family of Ilyashev,” Rakhmanov emphasized.
In turn, Yevgeny Zhovtis expressed the opinion that Ilyashev is now a political prisoner.
“Our authorities often reproach human rights activists for saying that there are political prisoners in Kazakhstan. Authorities say they are not there. In fact, we have political prisoners. Let’s imagine that they search a house of a person, who is suspected of alcohol smuggling. Believe me, an investigator and a couple of operatives will come. But when a couple of dozens of representatives of the special rapid response unit conduct a search, and they search at four addresses in order to seize materials in the case of the dissemination of false information, not in the case of the seizure of weapons, drugs, etc., the question arises, “Why do you need the special rapid response unit?” Because it’s a political case. This is demonstration, intimidation of society. They show what happens to those who criticize the authorities,” the human rights activist emphasized.
