ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Noted Kazakh dissident Ermek Narymbaev (aka Narymbai) has been released from prison two days after he was supposed to be set free.
In an apparent move to avoid rallies in front of the penal colony, prison guards brought Narymbaev to his apartment in the Central Asian nation's largest city, Almaty, early in the morning on July 31.
Narymbaev told supporters who came to visit him at his apartment that he had been on a hunger strike the final 44 hours of his incarceration, demanding his release, which had been scheduled for July 29. It remains unclear why he was held two days longer than his sentence.
"I do not plan to leave the country. I lived abroad for too long. I want to be with you, my people, in the epicenter of events, and be useful for our country," Narymbaev said, adding that he plans to work as a teacher and political and judicial consultant.
Narymbaev also said that according to the court's ruling, he does not have the right to have a bank account, despite the fact that President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev had announced in 2019 that all restrictions imposed on individuals with criminal records related to charges of extremism had been lifted.
On July 13, a court in southern Kazakhstan reduced Narymbaev's sentence by 11 months, ruling that the remainder of the sentence would be replaced by parole-like restrictions. It also ordered Narymbaev to pay a fine and banned him from participating in public events such as rallies and demonstrations.
Narymbaev's lawyer, Zhanar Balghabaeva, said at the time that her client should be released on July 29 -- after 15 days -- if the prosecutor's office did not object to the court's change to the sentence. No objection, if there was one, was made public.
The 53-year-old, who has been included on a list of "political prisoners" created by local human rights defenders, has been jailed several times for his political views and is known as a staunch critic of the tightly controlled former Soviet republic's government.
He fled Kazakhstan in 2016 for Ukraine after receiving death threats from unknown individuals. Narymbaev said at the time that the threats were masterminded by Kazakh authorities in a bid to intimidate him.
He returned to Kazakhstan in February 2022 after unprecedented anti-government rallies shook the Central Asian nation the month before, leaving at least 238 people dead.
He was arrested upon his arrival in Almaty and sent to prison for 30 months to serve the remainder of a previous suspended prison term he was handed in 2015 on a charge of inciting hatred, which he called politically motivated.