ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Kazakh authorities have rejected an asylum request by jailed Karakalpak activist Aqylbek Muratov (aka Muratbai), who is wanted in Uzbekistan on charges that human rights activists say are groundless.
Muratov's sister, Fariza Narbekova, told RFE/RL on September 16 that Kazakhstan’s commission on asylum issues had made the decision three days earlier.
"The legal matter blocking the extradition [to Uzbekistan] is now lifted. Kazakhstan's Prosecutor-General's Office may order his extradition at any time now. Everything is up to the government's position," Narbekova said.
Kazakh authorities arrested Muratov in late February at Tashkent's request on a charge of undermining constitutional order and other charges.
Muratov is an Uzbek citizen who has legally resided in Almaty for 10 years. Kazakh officials in February granted his request for asylum-seeker status, a move that defendants sometimes use to delay possible extradition.
Muratov has been known for his activities defending the rights of Karakalpaks living in Kazakhstan. He also raised awareness among international audiences about the situation in his native Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan within Uzbekistan.
Several Karakalpak activists have been arrested in Kazakhstan following mass rallies in Karakalpakstan's capital, Nukus, in July 2022. Thousands of people protested Tashkent's plans to change the constitution in a way that they said would have undermined the republic's right to self-determination.
The protests were violently dispersed. Uzbek authorities said at the time that 21 people died during the protests, but the Austria-based Freedom For Eurasia human rights group said at least 70 people were killed during the unrest.
In January last year, an Uzbek court sentenced 22 Karakalpak activists to prison terms on charges including undermining the constitutional order for taking part in the protests.
In March 2023, another 39 Karakalpak activists accused of taking part in the protests in Nukus were convicted, with 28 of them sentenced to prison terms of between five years and 11 years. Eleven defendants were handed parole-like sentences.
The violence forced Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev to make a rare about-face and scrap the proposal to change the constitution.
Kazakh and international human rights organizations have called on Kazakhstan's authorities to release Muratov, saying that if extradited to Uzbekistan Muratov may face arbitrary detention and unfair trial.
Karakalpaks are a Central Asian Turkic-speaking people. Their region used to be an autonomous area within Kazakhstan before becoming autonomous within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1930 and then part of Uzbekistan in 1936.