Kazakh authorities arrest leader of unregistered political party
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 4 December 2018 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Kazakh authorities arrest leader of unregistered political party, 4 December 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5c34a79ac.html [accessed 23 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
2018-12-04
By RFE/RL's Kazakh Service
Syrym Abdirakhmanov
ASTANA – The leader of Kazakhstan's unregistered Alash People's Social Democratic Party, Syrym Abdirakhmanov, has been arrested on a series of criminal charges.
Abdirakhmanov's lawyer, Tolegen Shaikov, told RFE/RL on December 4 that a court in Astana had ruled on December 1 that his client be held in pretrial detention for two months.
Shaikov says Abdirakhmanov was sued by an Astana city official and charged with distribution of false information, assaulting a public official, offending a public official, and obstructing justice.
The lawyer did not provide further details about the case.
Abdirakhmanov's party in 2017 named itself after the first Kazakh political party – Alash – which existed from 1917 to 1920.
The Alash People's Social Democratic Party positions itself as a centrist party of Kazakh youth, but it has never been officially registered.
The party says its main goal is "to preserve the country's independence via an implacable fight against corruption, bureaucracy, and injustice."
In February, the party said it was working "to save Kazakhstan in two years via anticorruption efforts and reforms."
Opponents and rights groups say Kazakhstan's 78-year-old President Nursultan Nazarbaev has systematically suppressed dissent and sidelined potential opponents in the country for decades, shoring up a grip on power that he has held since before the dissolution of the Soviet Union 1991.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
