NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakh activist Saule Seidakhmetova was planning to attend a peaceful opposition rally on December 16 to commemorate the victims of the deadly 2011 police crackdown on protesting oil workers in Zhanaozen.
But she will instead spend the next 10 days in jail.
The 55-year-old crane operator and outspoken government critic from the Kazakh capital was sentenced to administrative arrest for taking part in unsanctioned rallies, a spokesperson for the Nur-Sultan city court said on December 13.
Seidakhmetova’s arrest in Nur-Sultan comes amid renewed government pressure on critics ahead of the Central Asian nation’s Independence Day on December 16 when the resource-rich, authoritarian country will mark the 30th anniversary of it breaking free as the Soviet Union disintegrated.
That day coincides with the somber anniversary of the Zhanaozen events. Ten years ago, police in the southwestern town fatally shot at least 16 people while dispersing a rally by oil workers demanding better wages and working conditions.
December 16 also marks the anniversary of anti-Kremlin demonstrations by Kazakh youths in Almaty in 1986, known as the Zheltoqsan revolt. Officials say two people were killed in the unprecedented rallies but other sources put the number of dead in the hundreds.
In recent days, authorities have been detaining local activists in different parts of Kazakhstan to prevent them from staging demonstrations on December 16.
Those arrested are known for taking part in anti-government rallies, organizing solo protests, and criticizing authorities in a repressive country where dissent is rarely tolerated.
Seidakhmetova had served a similar 10-day administrative arrest for calling for “illegal protests” in January. She was detained on January 10 as the country held parliamentary elections. The activist claimed that police beat her during the arrest.
Despite the detention, Seidakhmetova went on to take part in several strikes held by crane operators in the following months. They demanded that the government lower the retirement age for crane operators, increase their wages according to the inflation rate, and provide them with special uniforms that conform to health and safety standards.
A Nur-Sultan city court spokeswoman said on December 13 that Seidakhmetova was being sentenced as a repeat offender. But she didn’t explain why the court waited 10 months to arrest her.
A Facebook group set up by Kazakh activists, #IHaveAChoiсe #ActivistsNotExtremists, described Seidakhmetova’s latest sentencing as a “politically motivated decision” by the court.
The group said the rally on December 16 is being organized by the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement.
The DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, a fugitive former banker turned opposition politician. Kazakh authorities banned the DVK in March 2018 after labeling it an extremist organization.
Police 'Used Physical Force'
Another Nur-Sultan activist who will spend Independence Day behind bars is Bolatbek Bilalov, detained by police on December 9 as he was traveling to his mother’s home.
The following day, Bilalov was sentenced to 15 days in jail after being found guilty of breaching the law on peaceful protests.
As Bilalov began serving the sentence, his wife and daughter launched a picket in front of the Prosecutor-General’s Office to protest the activist’s arrest.
Akmaral Bilalova accused police of “using physical force” against her husband and “leaving him without food and water for 18 hours.”
Meanwhile, two opposition supporters were sentenced to 15-day administrative arrests in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, last week.
Both Aidar Mubarakov and Erlan Faizullaev were found guilty of participating in unsanctioned protests. The two were sentenced in separate cases on December 5 and 7, respectively.
Like in Saidakhmetova’s case, it’s not the first incarceration for Faizullaev this year. The prominent activist was sentenced in November to five days in jail on the charge of being disobedient toward police. He was sentenced in June to 18 months of parole-like, restricted freedom for supporting the DVK and its associated Koshe (Street) party.
Unconfirmed reports from Kazakhstan suggest that more activists were detained across the country on December 14.
First Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev ruled the country with an iron fist from before independence in 1991 until he suddenly announced he was stepping down in March 2019.
Under his handpicked successor, Qasym-Jomart Toqaev, Kazakhstan continues to clamp down on freedom of speech and harass its opponents and critics.
