NOV. 4 (The Bulletin) — US NGO Freedom House said that free speech in Kazakhstan, alongside Sudan and Brazil, had deteriorated rapidly over the past 12 months. It said that the drop in free speech coincided with the handover of power from Nursultan Nazarbayev to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and that the government had tried to “monopolise the mobile market and implement real-time electronic surveillance”.
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— This story was first published in issue 428 of the weekly Bulletin
NOV. 9 (The Bulletin) –The authorities in Kazakhstan monitored, but did not intercept, an unsanctioned protest in Almaty organised by the Oyan, Qazaqstan group wants the system of government to switch towards a parliamentary democracy and for political prisoners to be released. It is rare for police not to detain protesters at unsanctioned protests. This year there has been an increase in the number of protests in Kazakhstan.
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— This story was first published in issue 428 of the weekly Bulletin
Aug. 5 (The Bulletin) — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev ordered the closure of a notorious prison in an isolated part of the Karakalpakstan region which had become synonymous with torture under his predecessor, Islam Karimov. The jail, which was freezing in winter and boiling in summer, had earned the nickname ‘The House of Horror’. Pres. Mirziyoyev has been trying to improve Uzbekistan’s reputation since he took over from Karimov in 2016.
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— This story was first published in issue 418 of the weekly Bulletin
ALMATY/Feb. 6 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in west Kazakhstan surprised observers by acquitting a woman of using social media to promote the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan opposition party.
The acquittal of 39-year-old Aigul Akberdiyeva came five months after her husband 45-year-old Ablovas Zhumaev was sent to prison for four years on similar charges. Human rights activists had highlighted both their cases as evidence of Kazakhstan’s lack of freedom and how the security services were monitoring Facebook and other sites for anti-government comments.
It is rare in Kazakhstan for an accused person to be acquitted of their alleged crimes by a judge. The sentencing of her husband on similar charges makes it even more remarkable that Ms Akberdiyeva was allowed to walk away from the court a free woman.
The Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan is the party of opposition fugitive leader Mukhtar Ablyazov.
During her trial, Ms Akberdiyeva, a mother of four, said that she thought the social situation in Kazakhstan was dire and that she did not support the government. She argued, though, that she had not called for the overthrow of the government and that instead all she had done was express her opinion through Facebook.
And there were other signs this week that other ordinary Kazakhs agreed with Ms Akberdiyeva’s assessment of the economy in Kazakhstan and the quality of life for ordinary people. Media reported that several protests, rare in Kazakhstan, had broken out in cities across the country against the government’s attitude towards working parents after five young girls died in a house fire in Astana on Feb. 4 while both their parents were away working nightshifts.
Dozens of people attended the girls’ funerals the following day and on Feb. 6 hundreds of demonstrators rallied in Astana to demand the resignation of labour and social protection minister Madina Abylqasymova.
They also want more benefits for working mothers and were frustrated that no national day of mourning was called.
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>This story was first published in issue 399 of The Conway Bulletin on Feb. 8 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 31 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan has lifted the ban on studying political science at university, Reuters reported, another indicator of how the country has opened up under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The Reuters report said universities had dropped political science in 2013 as it was deemed to be promoting theories counter to then-President Islam Karimov’s “Uzbek model”.
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>This story was first published in issue 399 of The Conway Bulletin on Feb. 8 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 23 (The Conway Bulletin) — A Kyrgyz woman has become the first person to be charged with a crime linked to anti-Chinese demonstrations that have grown in size in Bishkek over the past month. Radio Free Europe reported that Guljamila Saparalieva had been charged with inciting racial hatred. She was one of a dozen protesters who had gathered in Bishkek on Jan. 17 to protest against the growing number of Chinese migrants working in the country and also about China’s anti-Muslim policies in its northwest region. China is a key economic partner for Kyrgyzstan.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 26 (The Conway Bulletin) — Mher Yegiazarian, 51, an Armenian politician, died in a pre-trail detention centre in Yerevan 52 days after going on hunger strike. Police had arrested Yegiazarian, vice-president of the small Armenian Eagles: United Armenia party, on Dec. 4 and charged him with extorting $10,000. He denied the charges and when on a hunger strike to protest them.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
DEC. 21 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Almaty sent three men — Kenzhebek Abishev, Oralbek Omirov, and Almat Zhumaghulov — to jail on terrorism-related charges after finding them guilty of promoting banned political movement Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, set up by exiled opposition leader Mukhtar Ablyazov. Free speech activists have said the trial was politically motivated. Last month, during the trial Zhumaghulov and Omirov had also slashed their forearms in protest.
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>>This story was first published in issue 395 of The Conway Bulletin on Dec. 23 2018
SEPT. 26 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prominent Uzbek opposition activist Tolib Yoqubov, 78, returned to Uzbekistan for the first time in more than a decade from Paris where he had been living in exile. Mr Yoqubov had been a persistent critic of former Uzbek leader Islam Karimov and had fled the country in 2007, fearing for his life. Current Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev is planning to visit Paris next month to meet with French Pres. Emmanuel Macron.
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>>This story was published in issue 387 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 1 2018
SEPT. 27 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prosecutors in Armenia have interviewed two senior intelligence chiefs over a leaked phone call that appeared to show them colluding with other government departments over the detention of former President Robert Kocharyan in July, media reported. Mr Kocharyan was detained, and then released, for his role in the shooting dead of anti-government protesters after elections in 2008.
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>>This story was published in issue 387 of The Conway Bulletin on Oct. 1 2018