ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Karakalpak activist Aqylbek Muratov (aka Muratbai), who was arrested in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, at Uzbekistan's request earlier in February has been given asylum seeker status in Kazakhstan.
A relative of Muratov, Fariza Narbekova, told RFE/RL on February 26 that Kazakh officials had given him an asylum seeker's certificate three days earlier.
A court in Almaty had previously ruled that Muratov must stay in detention for at least 40 days while a court decision on his possible extradition to Uzbekistan was pending.
Muratov, an Uzbek citizen who has legally resided in Almaty for ten years, is known for his activities defending the rights of Karakalpaks living in Kazakhstan. He also raised awareness among international audiences about the situation in his native Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan, which is in Uzbekistan.
Human Rights Watch issued a statement on February 25 saying "the criminal case brought against Muratbai in Uzbekistan is a clear-cut case of retaliation against an outspoken human rights activist." HRW demanded his immediate release.
A lawyer for the Almaty-based Kazakh Bureau for Human Rights group, Denis Dzhivaga, told RFE/RL earlier that his organization would provide Muratov with legal assistance.
According to Dzhivaga, Muratov's detention was similar to the arrests of other Karakalpak activists that took place in Kazakhstan following mass rallies in Karakalpakstan's capital, Nukus, in July 2022. Thousands protested against Tashkent's plans to change the constitution, which would have undermined the republic's right to self-determination.
The protests were violently dispersed. Uzbek authorities said at the time that 21 people died during the protests, but the Austria-based Freedom for Eurasia human rights group said at least 70 people were killed during the unrest.
In January last year, an Uzbek court sentenced 22 Karakalpak activists to prison terms on charges that included undermining the constitutional order for taking part in the protests.
In March 2023, another 39 Karakalpak activists accused of taking part in the protests in Nukus were convicted, with 28 of them sentenced to prison terms of between five and 11 years. Eleven defendants were handed parole-like sentences.
The violence forced Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev to make a rare about-face and scrap the proposal.
Karakalpaks are a Central Asian Turkic-speaking people. Their region used to be an autonomous area within Kazakhstan before becoming autonomous within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1930 and then part of Uzbekistan in 1936.