Tag: Kazakhstan

The perpetrators of the assassination attempt against Lukpan Akhmedyarov have been sentenced to long prison terms. However, the true architects of the assassination attempt have not yet been determined

On July 1st 2013, members of the parliamentary observation mission to Kazakhstan organised by the Open Dialogue Foundation submitted their letter to President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Wolfgang Grossruk.

Kazakh authorities are trying to extradite Mukhtar Ablyazov’s former bodyguard Alexandr Pavlov. In view of the vague nature of the charges, the Open Dialogue Foundation calls upon the authorities of the Kingdom of Spain to prevent the extradition of A. Pavlov to Kazakhstan

The criminal proceedings against the wife of fugitive Kazakh opposition leader, Mukhtar Ablyazov, bear features of a political order. Ablyazov’s six-year-old daughter, Alua Ablyazova, may also be the victim of political conflict.

A rapid growth in utility rates has now become a concern of most Kazakh citizens. Monopolists explain the growth rates by the modernisation of infrastructure, but in reality the technology remains dated and dilapidated.

Appeal of Mukhtar Ablyazov regarding the kidnapping of his wife and little daughter by Kazakhstan authorities in Rome posted on his facebook page on 31 May 2013.

The Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan has released 6 oil workers from custody, who were convicted in the Zhanaozen case. However, the court upheld the sentences of the remaining prisoners, ignoring numerous statements on the use of torture against them by the investigating authorities.

On 11 May, the Finnish Centre for Art and Design in Fiskars held an exhibition of photographs from Kazakhstan, entitled ‘Silenced Voices’. The author, photographer and journalist, Kukka Ranta, visited Kazakhstan in autumn 2012 during the mission, organised by the Open Dialogue Foundation

On 30 April, 2013, an eight-day mission of the Supreme Bar Council to Kazakhstan came to an end. The Open Dialogue Foundation was the initiator of the enterprise, as it had addressed the Commission and External Image of Pro Bono Activities with the SBC with a request to organise the mission

While the President of Finland was holding a meeting with Kazakh President in Astana, in Helsinki, journalists were making efforts to influence their leader. ‘Niinistö, do not forget about human rights’ – was the title of an article written by Kukka Ranta, who managed to visit Zhanaozen

Criminal prosecution is one of the main instruments of political struggle in Kazakhstan; with this method, President Nursultan Nazarbayev has successfully eliminated his political opponents and critics for many years. National security services assist him in these endeavours

The threats against the independent press in Kazakhstan are becoming a reality: Guzyal Baydalinova, an employee of the closed newspaper ‘Golos Respubliki’, was attacked before the very eyes of her neighbours. There is reason to believe that Special Forces of Kazakhstan were involved in the attack

The public expression of religious views was the reason for the arrest and initiation of a criminal case against Aleksandr Kharlamov, a civic activist from Ridder. He now faces imprisonment or compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital

The export of raw materials from Kazakhstan is still directed mainly to Russia, but as Kazakhstan wishes to obtain a dominant position in the region, it will soon strive to break free from the historically determined patronage of Russia by developing new directions of hydrocarbon exports

The reform has not eliminated, and in some cases – even exacerbated – the problem of violation of the right to defence at trial, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and gatherings, as well as the freedom of expression and dissemination of information.