Human Rights Watch has urged Kazakh authorities to drop extremism charges and immediately release independent journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim, whose trial is scheduled to start on February 12.
In a February 8 statement, HRW called the charges against Mukhammedkarim "unfounded," noting that the Central Asian nation's authorities "ramp up prosecutions against critics on similar charges."
"Kazakhstan authorities are trying to muzzle an outspoken, independent journalist who has repeatedly criticized the authorities and sought to exercise his right to peaceful assembly," HRW's senior Central Asia researcher Mihra Rittmann said.
"Kazakhstan authorities need to narrow the definition of ‘extremism’ in the country’s criminal law and end the pernicious misuse of these charges against government critics."
Mukhammedkarim, whose Ne Deidi? (What Do They Say?) YouTube channel is very popular in Kazakhstan, was sent to pretrial detention in June 2023 on charges of financing an extremist group and participating in a banned group's activities.
The charges against Mukhammedkarim stem from his online interview with the fugitive banker and outspoken critic of the Kazakh government, Mukhtar Ablyazov, whose 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.
HRW also said in its statement that another Kazakh activist and the leader of the unregistered Algha, Qazaqstan! (Forward, Kazakhstan!) political party, Marat Zhylanbaev, was handed a seven-year prison term in November "on the same bogus charges."
"Both Duman Mukhammedkarim and Marat Zhylanbaev have already spent many days unjustifiably behind bars," Rittmann said.
"Both men should be released immediately."
Rights watchdogs have criticized the authorities in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic for persecuting dissent, but Astana has shrugged the criticism off, saying there are no political prisoners in the country.
Kazakhstan had been ruled by authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev since 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.