Merhat Sharipzhan is a senior correspondent for RFE/RL who focuses on developments in the former Soviet Union.
Amid ongoing efforts to further weaken former President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his associates, the Kazakh government has initiated amendments to the law on the Pantheon that would remove Nazarbaev's relatives from the list of individuals who deserve to be buried at the pricey public site.
Rustam Ibragimov, a former officer of Kazakhstan’s elite law enforcement unit who is serving life in prison for the kidnapping and murder of opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly and two associates 18 years ago, has asked for a retrial.
Kazakhstan's authorities have unexpectedly allowed an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the birth of the late opposition politician Zamanbek Nurqadilov, an outspoken critic of the Central Asian nation's former president, Nursultan Nazarbaev.
A lawyer for imprisoned Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny says prison officials told a court in Vladimir that the Kremlin critic had been transferred on December 11 from the IK-6 facility located in Vladimir region to a correctional facility outside the region.
The son of a Kazakh opposition leader whose death in 2005 was officially declared a suicide has demanded a new probe into his father's death.
Relatives, friends, colleagues, politicians, journalists, civic activists, and rights defenders have honored the memory of Altynbek SarsenbaiulyRelatives, friends, colleagues, politicians, journalists, civic activists, and rights defenders have honored the memory of Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly
Relatives of Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly have demanded that President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev allow investigators to question his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbaev and his daughter Darigha Nazarbaeva, the current Senate speaker, over the 2006 assassination of the opposition leader.
Rights defenders and lawyers for Chechen human rights activist Oyub Titiyev, who is on trial for alleged possession of marijuana, have said his case is "a warning" to all journalists and human rights activists working in the North Caucasus.
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka says his country will never be part of the Russian Federation.
Opposition politicians, journalists, civic activists and rights defenders gathered in Kazakhstan's commercial capital, Almaty, on February 9 to honor the memory of Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly, an opposition leader who was shot dead execution-style along with two associates 12 years ago.
Mikhail Zadornov, a stand-up comedian who got hearty laughs skewering the absurdities of life under Soviet rule and later targeted Washington, the West, and non-Russian ethnic groups, has died at the age of 69.
A Ukrainian teenager who was allegedly lured into Belarus by the Russian security services is being held in Russia on suspicion of terrorism-related crimes, according to a copy of an official Russian document seen by RFE/RL.
A commercial matchmaker has come under fire in Kazakhstan over efforts to recruit bachelorettes for wealthy Chinese customers willing to plonk down hard cash for a mate.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed his deputy chief of staff, Vyacheslav Volodin, to be chairman of the new State Duma, a move that would further tighten Putin's control over the political arena after a massive election win for the ruling United Russia party.
Russia's confinement of a Tatar activist to a psychiatric clinic in Crimea is raising fears that Moscow is reviving a Soviet-era practice to intimidate opponents of the peninsula's annexation into silence.
Russia says Turkey apologized, Turkey says it didn't. Either way, a cleverly worded letter from Ankara may now spell the end to their crisis over the downing of a Russian warplane.
Russia's 2016 Olympic wrestling team -- once expected to be one of the best in the world -- is in shambles over in-the-ring brawls, athlete boycotts, and scandalous referee rulings.
Ordinary Kazakhs can think of better ways to spend public money upon hearing about plans to house the graves of prominent citizens in a pricey pantheon.
Kazakhstan's culture minister has sparked resentment with remarks about neighboring Kyrgyzstan and its turbulent recent history.
One of the most outspoken opponents of Kazakh plans to dispense with huge swaths of land is a folksy singer who's not afraid to pick a fight with the government.
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