QONAEV, Kazakhstan -- Independent Kazakh journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim, who is on trial for what he says are politically motivated charges of financing an extremist group and participating in a banned group's activities, has launched a hunger strike to demand that his court hearings be open to the public.
Mukhammedkarim's lawyer, Ghalym Nurpeisov, told reporters and his client's supporters on February 22 after the journalist's trial resumed in the southern town of Qonaev that Mukhammedkarim vowed to stop his hunger strike only after the judge retracts his previous decision to hold the trial behind closed doors.
The high-profile trial of the reporter known for his articles critical of the government started on February 12.
Dozens of Mukhammedkarim's supporters again gathered in front of the court's building, chanting "Freedom!"
Mukhammedkarim, whose Ne Deidi? (What Do They Say?) YouTube channel is extremely popular in Kazakhstan, was sent to pretrial detention in June 2023 over his online interview with fugitive banker and outspoken critic of the Kazakh government Mukhtar Ablyazov. Ablyazov's Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement was labeled as extremist and banned in the country in March 2018.
If convicted, Mukhammedkarim could be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.
Domestic and international right organizations have urged Kazakh authorities to drop all charges against Mukhammedkarim and immediately release him. Kazakh rights defenders recognize Mukhammedkarim as a political prisoner.
Rights watchdogs have criticized the authorities in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic for persecuting dissent, but Astana has shrugged off the criticism, saying there are no political prisoners in the country.
Kazakhstan was ruled by authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev from its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 until current President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev succeeded him in 2019.
Over the past three decades, several opposition figures have been killed and many jailed or forced to flee the country.
Toqaev, who broadened his powers after Nazarbaev and his family left the oil-rich country's political scene following the deadly, unprecedented anti-government protests in January 2022, has promised political reforms and more freedoms for citizens.
However, many in Kazakhstan consider the reforms announced by Toqaev cosmetic, as a crackdown on dissent has continued even after the president announced his "New Kazakhstan" program.