Tag: Mukhtar Dzhakishev

On March 19th 2020 a Kazakhstani political prisoner and a torture victim, Mukhtar Dzhakishev, has been released from prison. On March 3th, 2020, a court in Semey (Kazakhstan) ruled to free him on parole and under probation supervision. The decision came as a surprise since all previous release requests were rejected. During the past decade, Dzhakishev was denied the right to a fair and public trial, the right to defence, and the right to humane treatment, while the deterioration of his health was reported by international observers.

The court did not consider it necessary to take into account the fact of having already served more than two thirds of the sentence, nor the lack of penalties, the disability of the 3rd group and the deteriorating state of health of the prisoner.

Mr Josè Ignacio Sanchez Amor, Chair of the General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, signed two letters on Friday 23 February 2018, one addressed to the President of Kazakhstan, Mr Nazarbayev

The Kazakhstani political prisoner Mukhtar Dzhakishev is suffering from life-threatening diseases – he is now at risk of stroke and heart attack. The latest examinations have revealed impaired brain function. Dzhakishev stays in bed almost all the time.

On November 13, 2017, MEPs submitted two written questions to the EU VP/HR on the politically motivated prosecutions taking place in Kazakhstan. This comes after MEPs, on October 19, addressed letters to the Kazakhstani state authorities, demanding the release of several political prisoners

On the 11th of October, 2017, Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) signed a joint letter of concern addressed to the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, over the unlawful detention of two political prisoners: Mukhtar Dzhakishev and Muratkhan Tokmadi.

On 11 October, 2017, 26 Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) signed a written declaration calling for the immediate cessation of political oppression, injustice and torture in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Mukhtar Dzhakishev’s serious chronic diseases have become more advanced. He is in a need of urgent hospitalisation. Serving time in one of the harshest penal facilities in Kazakhstan, Dzhakishev is not receiving the necessary medical care

Early presidential elections resemble a staged play under the facade of democracy. Uncompetitive elections are a way for Nazarbayev to consolidate autocratic power.

The criminal case against Mukhtar Dzhakishev was politically motivated and was carried out in gross violation of the fair trial standards. Kazakh authorities did not permit Swiss doctors from the World Organization against Torture to examine him.

Since Kazakhstan’s last Universal Periodic Review, the situation regarding human rights has deteriorated. Kazakhstan’s government has failed to implement many of the reform commitments to which it agreed.