Watchdog

NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia -- A Siberian regional court has banned Falun Gong, the Chinese spiritual movement that China's Communist Party has sought to stamp out since the late 1990s.

The ruling, by an appeals court in the city of Novosibirsk, was the latest in a number of court cases that have targeted not only Falun Gong, but other religious and spiritual organizations under Russia's strict extremism laws.

In July, the Supreme Court in the region of Khakasia, east of Novosibirsk, rejected local prosecutors' request to classify the Chinese movement as extremist, something that effectively shuts down an organization.

But on November 10, the Novosibirsk appeals court overruled the local court's decision.

A representative of the organization, Oskana Shchyotkina, told RFE/RL that between 2014 and 2019, one of the movement's members was fined and another one was jailed for three days for distributing a book containing the movement's teachings.

She said the two cases were used by prosecutors to file a request to classify the group as extremist.

"We consider the case fabricated and, of course, we will appeal the ruling, which will not affect activities of the movement's other branches [in Russia]," she said.

It's unclear what sort of legal consequences the Siberian court ruling will have beyond the region.

Since the 2016 passage of a measure known informally as Yarovaya's Law, Russian authorities have stepped up investigation and prosecution of some smaller religious groups.

Among those targeted most aggressively are the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a denomination that was labeled an extremist group in 2017. Prosecutors have arrested and tried dozens of members since then.

Established in the early 1990s, Falun Gong is a spiritual teaching that combines meditation and traditional Chinese gymnastics with a moral philosophy.

The group, which has been dogged by accusations from former practitioners of a harsh, cult-like belief system, has been aggressively persecuted by the Chinese authorities. The group's world headquarters is currently in a town in upstate New York.

SHYMKENT, Kazakhstan -- An activist in Kazakhstan's southern city of Shymkent has held a single-person picket to demand the registration of the opposition Democratic Party ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for January 10, 2021.

Wearing posters on his chest and on his back with slogans put forward by the Democratic Party and demands for it to be registered, Zhambyl Zhunisbekov picketed in the center of Shymkent on November 11 accompanied by about a dozen of his supporters, who did not take part in the picket.

Single-person pickets do not require authorities' permission, but Zhunisbekov obtained an official permit as very often police in Shymkent detain activists holding such types of protest despite the law.

Police were present at the site, but did not interfere.

"The parliamentary elections on January 10, 2021, are again going to be a mockery of an election. What we need now is political reform, the Democratic Party must be registered," Zhunisbekov said.

Last week, Democratic Party leader Zhanbolat Mamai told RFE/RL that he had obtained permission to organize a rally in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, on November 14, to demand the party's registration.

The Central Election Commission said on November 5 that six officially registered parties will take part in the January 10 elections. The parties include the ruling Nur Otan, four pro-government parties -- Aq Zhol, Auyl, Birlik, and the Communist People's Party -- and the All-National Social Democratic Party, which describes itself as an opposition group.

Democratic Party activists insist that there are no real independent or opposition parties among the registered political groups in the oil-rich Central Asian nation.

The January 10 polls will be the first parliamentary elections since President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev succeeded Nursultan Nazarbaev, who resigned in March last year after nearly three decades in power.

Nazarbaev still maintains key positions of power, including being head of the country’s powerful Security Council and the ruling Nur Otan party. He also enjoys almost limitless powers and immunity as "elbasy" -- leader of the nation.

The 107-seat Mazhlis is currently dominated by Nazarbaev's Nur Otan, which has 84 deputies.

The Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan and the Aq Zhol party each have seven seats.

The remaining nine seats are appointed by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, an advisory body controlled by Nazarbaev.

The last parliamentary elections were held in March 2016.

International election observers say that past elections in Kazakhstan have been neither free nor fair, citing electoral fraud, repression of opposition candidates, and restrictions on the freedom of the press.