Tag: political persecution

On 4 March, 2016, Nadiya Savchenko officially went on a ‘dry hunger strike’, refusing even water. Such a radical move is a reaction to yesterday’s unlawful action of the court which did not permit the Ukrainian woman to deliver her final speech at the trial.

On Tuesday, 26 January 2016, the Open Dialogue Foundation and the Estonian Member of the European Parliament Mrs Marju Lauristin (Socialists and Democrats) organised a high-level working breakfast at the European Parliament in Brussels dedicated to the topic of media freedom in Kazakhstan.

On 14 January, 2016, MP Yegor Sobolev urged the General Prosecutor’s Office to carefully examine publicised incidents of abuse by Ukrainian investigators in the cases against Kazakh opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov and his relative Syrym Shalabayev.

Four years ago, on 16 December, 2011, in the Kazakh city of Zhanaozen, riot police opened fire with live ammunition on the backs of unarmed oil workers, who had been protesting for higher wages and better working conditions for seven months.

While rejecting criticism from the international community, Kazakhstan is tightening its grip on civil society. However, a desire to preserve its image forces authorities to resort to making some concessions in the cases of political prisoners.

Human rights defenders appeal to the office of the Prosecutor General, Ministry of Justice and President of Lithuania requesting recognition of political motivations behind persecution of a relative of the Kazakh dissident and urging not to allow S. Shalabayev’s extradition to Kazakhstan or Ukraine.

Syrym Shalabayev, a relative of the Kazakh opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov, requests that Lithuania grants him political asylum and protection against extradition.

Kazakhstan is orchestrating the Ukrainian and Russian investigations in the case of an opposition politician and applies illegal lobbying mechanisms in Europe.

On 10 August, 2015, the Kazakh opposition leader Vladimir Kozlov celebrated his 55th birthday behind bars. Having been placed in strict conditions of detention, he is subjected to ill-treatment and faces the risk of being transferred to a different, more severe penal colony.

The Kazakh authorities misinform the international community in order to avoid criticism for their persecution of political prisoner V. Kozlov.

A Kazakhstani political prisoner is being subjected to ill treatment. Vladimir Kozlov has been systematically denied a transfer to milder conditions of detention and release on parole.

On 19 June, 2015, the Pechersky District Court of Kiev satisfied the complaint filed by the Open Dialogue Foundation and handed down a decision to initiate criminal proceedings with respect to the Kiev investigator Sergey Khodakovskiy.

The preliminary investigation into the criminal case against the Ukrainian political prisoner Nadiya Savchenko has come to an end. In the near future, the results of which will be submitted for consideration by the court.

1. Introduction The political context of the case of Mukhtar Ablyazov has been repeatedly referred to in the statements of human rights organisations, members of the European Parliament and the PACE. Russia and Ukraine are not safe countries for extradition as these countries do not guarantee the right to a fair trial or adequate conditions […]

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