KAZAKHSTAN: DEMOCRATIC CHOICE OF KAZAKHSTAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALMATY 000545

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CACEN (JMUDGE),DRL/PHD (PDAVIES)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2015
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KZ POLITICAL
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: DEMOCRATIC CHOICE OF KAZAKHSTAN
LIQUIDATED

REF: A. ALMATY 166 AND PREVIOUS


B. ALMATY 537

Classified By: POEC Chief Deborah Mennuti, reasons 1.4 (B) and (D).


1. (C) Summary: A February 9 ruling by an Almaty appeals
court resulted in the liquidation of Democratic Choice of
Kazakhstan (DCK) and raised serious questions about due
process. Although the case can still be appealed to two
higher levels of the courts, party leaders and lawyers are
pessimistic about their prospects for success. We expect
that at least some DCK leaders will eventually attempt to
register a new party. End summary.


2. (SBU) In a February 9 ruling, the Almaty City Court upheld
the ruling of the Almaty Interdistrict Economic Court to
liquidate Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK) on charges of
undermining the security of the state and fanning social
hatred. The court ruled on both the issue of jurisdiction,
rejecting DCK's argument that the case should be heard in the
administrative courts, and the substance. The charges
stemmed from a December 11 statement that described the
September parliamentary elections as "rigged" and called on
the public to exercise civil disobedience to remove President
Nazarbayev's "family clan." Party head Assylbek
Kozhakhmetov, head of the Opposition Coordination Council
Zharmakhan Tuyakbay, Kazakhstan Human Rights Bureau head and
lawyer Yevgeniy Zhovtis, and DCK lawyer Serik Musin
represented the party at the hearing. The event attracted
significant media coverage, including local BBC and New York
Times stringers.


3. (C) POEC chief and PolFSN observed the hearing. Over a
hundred DCK supporters (mostly elderly) wearing orange
scarves packed the courtroom, occasionally interrupting
proceedings. A handful were ejected for unruliness. The
atmosphere in the courtroom was tense. The senior judge
opened proceedings with a stern warning that anyone speaking
out would be warned once and thrown out the second time.
Kozhakhmetov was very provocative and combative in his
exchanges with the judge, who at one point warned the DCK
leader that he was "outside the bounds of the law." Of the
numerous motions filed by DCK, the judge accepted only one,
to admit two written expert opinions. The party was not
allowed to call the expert witnesses it sought. The
procurator called two, a philologist and a psychologist who
had analyzed the December 11 statement and determined that it
violated the law. The judge overruled more than half of the
questions that DCK representatives sought to pose to these
expert witnesses. After hearing motions and testimony from
14:30 until 19:40, the three-judge panel recessed to
deliberate. They returned after thirty minutes and issued
the ruling, prompting the DCK supporters to unfurl protest
banners and chant "shame, shame."


4. (SBU) With this decision, the January 6 liquidation order
formally went into effect. DCK no longer exists as a legal
entity, and its regional branches are to be deregistered. We
understand the phones at party headquarters have already been
cut off. The liquidation commission appointed by the Almaty
Interdistrict Economic Court was to have begun work
immediately. Party leaders can now appeal the decision to a
higher level ("nadzorniy") of the Almaty City Court for a
technical review, and then to the Supreme Court.


5. (SBU) In a February 10 press conference, party leaders
stated that they would file an appeal but were not optimistic
about the results. Kozhakhmetov explained that they would
appeal simply so that "afterward, noone can ask us why we
didn't take it to the end." After the ruling was issued
February 9, Zhovtis told POEC chief and PolFSN that he was
very pessimistic about prospects for an appeal, given the
hasty ruling of the Almaty City Court.


6. (C) Comment: The way the hearing was conducted confirmed
earlier impressions that the case against DCK is politically
motivated, and raised serious questions about due process.
Post will remain in close contact with DCK leaders as they
determine next steps. Given Kozhakhmetov's comments to DAS
Kennedy on Feb. 5 (ref B) that liquidation could not get rid
of DCK's supporters, we expect at least some elements of the
party to attempt to register as a new organization. End
comment.


NNNN