Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the Kazakh authorities to immediately release the chairman of the unregistered Algha Kazakhstan (Forward Kazakhstan) party, Marat Zhylanbaev, who is on trial on charges of taking part in the activities of a banned group and financing an extremist organization.
In a statement issued on November 9, the rights group called Zhylanbaev’s trial politically motivated and called on Astana to drop the "bogus charges" and "uphold rights to expression and assembly."
"Zhylanbaev shouldn't be on trial, much less a closed one, for engaging in peaceful political opposition," said Mihra Rittmann, HRW's senior Central Asia researcher.
"The sum total of Zhylanbaev's so-called wrongdoing is publicly but peacefully advocating for a political alternative to Kazakhstan's authoritarian government, and he should be released."
Last week, Zhylanbaev announced that he had launched a hunger strike to protest an Astana court's October 30 decision to hold the proceedings behind closed doors.
Zhylanbaev was initially sentenced to 20 days in jail in May for holding a picket in March to demand the release of political prisoners and to ask Western countries to impose sanctions on Kazakh officials for "helping" Russia evade sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
Zhylanbaev was later remanded in custody on charges of taking part in a banned group's activities and financing an extremist organization.
Investigators say the activities of Zhylanbaev and his followers were coordinated by the fugitive banker and outspoken critic of the Kazakh government, Mukhtar Ablyazov, whose Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement was labeled extremist and banned in the country in March 2018. Zhylanbaev is also accused of transferring money to supporters of DVK twice.
Zhylanbaev rejects the charges against him, calling them politically motivated.
"Not only is Zhylanbaev being arbitrarily prosecuted by an authoritarian government for exercising his rights to free speech, peaceful protest, and freedom of association, but the authorities are doubling down by violating his fair trial rights," Rittmann said.
"He should be released immediately and the charges against him should be dropped."