ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- A court in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, has extended the pretrial detention of Zhanbolat Mamai, the leader of the unregistered opposition Democratic Party of Kazakhstan.
Mamai's wife, Inga Imanbai, wrote on Facebook on October 5 that her husband's pretrial detention was prolonged until at least November 12.
The 34-year-old Mamai was arrested in late February. He faces up to 10 years in prison on charges of organizing mass riots and knowingly disseminating false information during protests in January. He and his supporters reject the accusations as politically motivated.
In August, the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) called on Kazakh authorities to release Mamai and other political prisoners and stop the criminal prosecution of those who died during unrest in the Central Asian nation in January.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have urged Kazakh authorities to release Mamai and drop all charges against him, also calling them politically motivated.
Mamai, known for his harsh criticism of the nation's authoritarian government, has been trying to register the Democratic Party of Kazakhstan, but claims he is being prevented from doing so by the government. He says officials only permit parties loyal to the political powers to be legally registered.
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 tightly controlled former Soviet republic.
Toqaev recently broadened his powers after Nazarbaev and his clan left the oil-rich nation's political scene following the unprecedented deadly anti-government protests in January.
The unrest, which started over a fuel price hike, quickly spread across Kazakhstan because of discontent over the cronyism that had long plagued the country. At least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, were killed during the dispersal of the protests by security forces and police.
Several participants in the protests have been handed lengthy prison terms across the country in recent months on charges of organizing mass disturbances and riots. More trials are pending.