Kazakh Activist's Request For Early Prison Release Rejected

Qairat Qylyshev during his trial in September 2021

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- A court in Kazakhstan on May 23 rejected a request for the early release of opposition activist Qairat Qylyshev, who was sentenced to five years in prison in October 2021 on extremism-related charges that he and his supporters have rejected.

Qairat Qylyshev's lawyer, Zhanar Balghabaeva, said on May 24 that she will appeal the decision by the Qapshaghai city court.

According to Balghabaeva, her client, who has seven months and six days remaining on his sentence, does not pose a danger to society and deserves an early release.

Qylyshev and three other opposition activists were sentenced to five years in prison after a court found them guilty of having links with the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement and the Koshe (Street) party.

During their trial, the defendants claimed they only participated in peaceful protests and exercised their constitutionally protected rights.

Many activists across the Central Asian nation have been handed lengthy prison terms or parole-like restricted freedom sentences in recent years for their involvement in the activities of DVK and Koshe and for taking part in the rallies organized by the two groups.

DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government. Kazakh authorities labeled DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018.

In spring 2022, Qylyshev was released on parole, but last year he was rearrested for what police called a "parole violation" and sent to a correctional colony again.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticized the Kazakh government for using anti-extremism laws as a tool to persecute critics and civic activists. In all, several hundred people have been prosecuted for membership in the Koshe party.

The Kazakh authorities have shrugged off the accusations, insisting that there are no political prisoners in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.