Tag: punitive psychiatry

In an attempt to prevent a reduction in the volume of foreign investment in the country’s economy, and to maintain its positive international image, the authorities of Kazakhstan are being forced to make individual concessions in the cases of political prisoners.

Thus far, more than 38 cases of politically motivated criminal prosecution have been registered in Kazakhstan. Of these, 24 political prisoners are being held in prisons and detention facilities, or even (in two cases) in mental hospitals.

In a recent interview conducted by Domenico Letizia for Cronache di Napoli, an Italian newspaper, Anna Koj, head of the Open Dialog’s EU Office, spoke about the Foundation’s work in promoting democracy and the rule of law in the post-Soviet states.

In his latest piece for L’Opinione, Italian on-line magazine on civil freedoms and rights, Domenico Letizia calls Kazakhstan the state of “injustice” and analyses the problem of the continuous use of various repressive methods.

Italian Senator Luigi Compagna filed a written inquiry with the Italian government, regarding political prisoners in Kazakhstan, in particular, the situation of Zinaida Mukhortova.

Member of the European Parliament, Agnieszka Kozłowska-Rajewicz, filed a written inquiry with the European Commission regarding the Ukrainian activists, abducted from the territory of Crimea: Oleg Sentsov, Gennadiy Afanasyev, Aleksey Chirniy and Alexander Kolchenko.

On 24 July 2014 the Kazakhstani human right advocate Zinaida Mukhortova was transferred to an ICU. The woman was administered an injection of an unknown substance, after which her condition rapidly deteriorated.

The Open Dialogue Foundation hereby demands the immediate release of Zinaida Mukhortova, a human rights defender of the town of Balkhash.