Police in Kazakhstan have detained opposition politician Mukhtar Taizhan in the country’s largest city, Almaty, and journalist Luqpan Akhmedyarov in the western city of Oral over their participation in April 9 rallies protesting the results of parliamentary elections last month.
Taizhan and Akhmedyarov said on social media that police detained them on April 12 on a charge of violating regulations on public gatherings.
Taizhan was later sentenced to 15 days in prison after a court in Almaty found him guilty on the charge. Akhmedyarov's sentencing is pending.
Taizhan and Akhmedyarov took part in unsanctioned rallies in their respective cities on April 9, demanding that new parliamentary elections be held.
Journalist Luqpan Akhmedyarov (file photo)
Both unsuccessfully participated in the March 19 balloting as independent candidates. The ruling Amanat party won a majority of seats in the elections, which many independent candidates and opposition activists said were rigged, citing the improper counting of ballots and government pressure on public employees to vote for certain parties.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which had an observer mission present at the elections, noted after the vote that "limits on the exercise of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms remain and some political groups continue to be prevented from participating as political parties in elections."
While the voting "was organized in a smooth manner overall," the OSCE said "significant procedural irregularities were observed."
Days before the parliamentary elections, President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev signed a law strengthening the punishment for individuals calling for mass unrest -- a crime authorities often equate with calls for spontaneous protests, which are illegal.
The amended law raised the maximum prison sentence for the offense to seven years from a previous three years, with the possibility of early release on parole excluded.
Opposition activists have complained for years that they have been not allowed to register political parties at the Justice Ministry.