1. Introduction Tokayev’s deaf state After Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took over as President of Kazakhstan in 2019, he announced plans to implement the concept of a “listening state”, which means “supporting and strengthening civil society”. In September 2020, Tokayev stated that a priority issue for him was to “adopt new measures to protect human rights in […]
The political persecution of Barlyk Mendygaziyev is yet another example of how the Nazarbayev regime is taking hostages to fight political opponents. Barlyk Mendygaziyev is a businessman, philanthropist and human rights activist from Aksai, West-Kazakhstan Region living in the United States.
In a letter sent on 2 August to Věra Jourová, Vice-president of the European Commission responsible for Values and Transparency, 10 MEPs have expressed their support for Bartosz Kramek and their opposition to the outrageous, politically motivated persecution carried out by the Polish government against him and the Open Dialogue Foundation, as well as other […]
On 30 July, Roberto Rampi, Member of the Italian Senate, together with Riccardo Magi and Mauro Del Barba, Members of the Chamber of Deputies, sent a letter to Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Italy, H.E. Sembayev Yerbolat, demanding an online meeting with political prisoner Bekizhan Mendygaziev. In the letter the Italian representatives have expressed their concern for […]
On 15 April 2021, ODF co-hosted an online conference on the new EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime and the effectiveness of personal (targeted) sanctions in safeguarding human rights. The event was co-organised in partnership with the Italian Federation for Human Rights, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Freedom Kazakhstan Foundation and the Global Committee for […]
In a letter addressed to the government of Belgium, Senator Mark Demesmaeker, member of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) and formerly Member of the European Parliament, has expressed his support for Bartosz Kramek and his opposition to the senseless and politically motivated persecution carried out by the Polish government against him and the Open Dialogue […]
19 people came to the District Court in Lublin to post PLN 300 thousand bail for Bartosz Kramek. – As I was leaving the jail, a prison guard wished me “good luck fighting the regime”. — I am grateful to all those who vouched for me, verbally and financially. Thank you and let’s keep fighting. […]
We are writing to express our deep concern about the detention of Mr Bartosz Kramek, a Polish activist and the Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), a Poland-based international NGO on the frontlines of the fight for the rule of law in the country.
On 12-13 July our representative Maksym Sytnikov participated at the OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (SHDM). SHDM is a platform for the OSCE Participating States and civil society to discuss progress made by the former in implementing OSCE commitments. The latest meeting was devoted to Digital Technologies and Human Rights. During the first session Maksym […]
On 21 June 2021 the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), together with the Italian Federation for Human Rights (FIDU), organized the online panel “Authoritarian countermeasures to targeted sanctions: China’s and other autocratic responses”. Hosted by ODF President Lyudmyla Kozlovska, the event gathered human rights defenders and an MEP affected by China’s countermeasures to discuss the reactions […]
On 29 June, MEPs Petras Auštrevičius (Renew), Nieklas Nienass (Greens), Isabel Santos (S&D), Helmuth Scholz (The Left), and Róża Thun und Hohenstein (EPP) have signed an appeal to Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to demand the liberation of political prisoner Bekizhan Mendygaziyev and the end of all acts of political persecution against his brother, human rights […]
On the 23rd of June, 2021, Bartosz Kramek, an activist and the Chairman of ODF’s Supervisory Board, was detained by law enforcement officers of the Internal Security Agency (ABW), at the recommendation of Zbigniew Ziobro’s Prosecutor’s Office. The allegations directed at Bartosz and the Foundation are bizarre, unsubstantiated and represent the political fight against NGOs […]
Or maybe they are turning their heads away, because they turn their heads as a result of the Kremlin-PiS propaganda. Since June 23, a political prisoner of the PiS party, Bartosz Kramek from the Open Dialogue Foundation, has been held in detention. On July 8, time runs out for him to pay PLN 300,000 bail, which would allow […]
In a special statement, the Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF) responded to accusations against Bartosz Kramek, an arrested activist and the husband of Lyudmyla Kozlovska, the head of the organisation. According to the foundation, the accusations are bizarre and the allegations are untrue. On Thursday, 25 June, acting on the request of the public prosecutor’s office, […]
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has accused Bartosz Kramek, an activist and the Chairman of the Foundation’s Supervisory Board, of “laundering money originating from the crime of a false statement”. What was not elaborated upon was the content of the false statement, the issue of which invoices were issued and why the company’s transparent and publicly […]
