An Astana court on January 19 rejected an appeal filed by the chairman of Kazakhstan’s unregistered Algha Kazakhstan (Forward Kazakhstan) party, Marat Zhylanbaev, against the seven-year prison term he was handed in late November. He was convicted of taking part in the activities of the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement and its financing. Zhylanbaev has called the charges politically motivated. DVK, led by the fugitive opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov, was declared extremist and banned in the Central Asian country in March 2018. International and domestic human rights organizations have urged the Kazakh authorities to immediately release Zhylanbaev. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.
Kazakh Opposition Party Leader's Appeal Against Prison Sentence Rejected
Marat Zhylanbaev (in blue) speaks from inside the defendant's enclosure during his trial in Astana in October 2023.