ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- A court in Almaty on March 20 extended until mid-February 2025 the detention of Karakalpak activist Aqylbek Muratov, who is wanted in Uzbekistan on charges that human rights activists say are groundless.
The court in Kazakhstan's largest city had previously ruled that Muratov, who was arrested last month at Tashkent's request on a charge of undermining constitutional order and other charges, must stay in detention for at least 40 days while a court decision on his possible extradition to Uzbekistan is pending. No further explanation was given.
Muratov is an Uzbek citizen who has legally resided in Almaty for 10 years. Kazakh officials in February granted his request for asylum seeker status, a move that defendants sometimes use to stave off possible extradition.
Muratov, who also goes by Muratbai, is known for his activities defending the rights of Karakalpaks living in Kazakhstan. He has also raised awareness among international audiences about the situation in his native Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan within Uzbekistan.
A lawyer for the Almaty-based Kazakh Bureau for Human Rights, 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 of people protested Tashkent's plans to change the constitution in a way that 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 years 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 to change the constitution.
Kazakh and international human rights organizations have called on Kazakhstan's authorities to release Muratov, saying that he may face arbitrary detention and an unfair trial if he is extradited to Uzbekistan.
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.