The chairman of Kazakhstan’s unregistered Algha Kazakhstan (Forward Kazakhstan) party, Marat Zhylanbaev, was not released on May 23 despite serving out a 20-day jail term he was handed for holding a picket in March to demand the release of political prisoners and for Western nations to impose sanctions on top Kazakh officials for "helping" Russia evade sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. Several police officers and men in civil clothes searched Zhylanbaev's home in Astana on May 23. They confiscated a memory stick, a telephone, and several T-shirts emblazoned with Algha symbols, Zhylanbaev's relatives say. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.
Kazakh Activist Not Released After Serving 20-Day Jail Term, Police Search His Home
Police stand outside Marat Zhylanbaev's home in Astana on May 23.