Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ASTANA204
2007-01-24 04:40:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Astana
Cable title:  

KAZAKHSTAN: ALMATY NOTES, JANUARY 2007

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KZ 
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VZCZCXRO6389
RR RUEHAST RUEHDBU
DE RUEHTA #0204/01 0240440
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240440Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8267
INFO RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1673
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 7839
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT 7786
RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 7101
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 1992
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 1369
RUEHAST/USOFFICE ALMATY
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 2174
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000204 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: ALMATY NOTES, JANUARY 2007

REF: 06 ASTANA 919

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000204

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: ALMATY NOTES, JANUARY 2007

REF: 06 ASTANA 919


1. The "Almaty Notes" series is intended to maintain focus on
developments in civil society, the media, and the opposition in
Kazakhstan's "southern capital" following the move of the Embassy to
Astana.

Young Opposition Activists Jailed for Embezzlement
-------------- --------------


2. On December 11, the Saryarka district court in Astana sentenced
young opposition activist Makhambet Abzhan to three years in prison
for misappropriation of 1,337,000 tenge ($10,445) allocated for
election campaigning. According to press reports Abzhan, the leader
of the youth wing of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, confessed to
the crime. Abzhan received the money from the state budget in 2005
in order to campaign for a position in the Astana City Maslikhat.
He instead used the money to publish the "Young Patriot" newspaper.
After Abzhan was arrested in December 2005 in Kyrgyzstan and
extradited to Kazakhstan, he repaid the money to the state election
fund.


3. Abzhan was charged with misappropriating a large sum of money.
The procurator asked the court to jail Abzhan for seven years. The
court instead sentenced Abzhan to three years in prison, with an
additional two year ban on involvement in public activities
following his release.


4. Abzhan's friend Azamat Zhetpisbayev told the press that while
they were in Kyrgyzstan, they set up a revolutionary committee.
They called on youth organizations of Kazakhstan to unite their
forces and to set up a single association. Had the presidential
election in 2005 been rigged, they would have organized mass
uprising. In addition, Abzhan made a number of public statements
asserting that Nazarbayev had no right to run for the presidency.


5. Zhetpisbayev himself was arrested in Almaty on December 15. On
December 22, Respublika newspaper published an appeal from Rozlana
Taukina, president (and sole member) of the "Zhurnalisty v Bede"
(Journalists in Distress) fund, to Minister of Internal Affairs
Baurzhan Mukhamedzhanov asking the minister to intervene. Taukina
claimed that the arrest of Zhetpisbayev, a correspondent of "Radio
Azzatyk" (the Kyrgyzstan branch of RFE/RL),was politically
motivated. She stated that he was arrested only because he is a
friend and associate of Abzhan.


6. Since his arrest, Zhetpisbayev has been held in the Almaty

pre-trial detention center; no charges have been filed. In her
appeal, Taukina asked for assistance in facilitating his release and
for permission for a representative of her organization to study the
documents on the case as a public defender. In a December 28
telephone conversation with Pol FSN, Taukina complained that the
requests to see the journalist in the detention center had been
denied.


7. On December 26, Astana TV reported that Zhetpisbayev's arrest was
linked to the trial of Makhambet Abzhan. According to the report,
Abzhan testified during his trial that Zhetpisbayev had seized part
of the election fund (about 900,000 tenge, or $7,000)
misappropriated during the 2005 maslikhat election campaign.

Conflict between Uighurs and Kazakhs
--------------


8. On November 18, 2006, in the village of Shelek in the Almaty
Oblast, there was a fight between a group of young Kazakhs and a
group of young Uighurs. The fight reportedly erupted after a young
Uighur said: "It is your state, but it is our land." The following
day, there was a larger fight involving more than 300 people. The
local police broke up the fight with the help of village elders.


9. On December 7, the opposition "Svoboda Slova" newspaper published
an article titled "Uighurs of Shelek: It is Your State, but it is
Our Land" by journalist Yerganat Uralbayev. The article, in which
Uralbayev referred to inter-ethnic conflict, caused a very heated
reaction. Journalist Bakhtiyar Gayanov, writing on the
www.fergana.ru site on December 20, criticized Uralbayev for blaming
young Uighurs for the conflict. Gayanov claimed that the article
would lead to the emigration of non-Kazakhs, especially ethnic
Russians.


10. "Svoboda Slova" published three pages of responses to the
article on the Shelek incident on December 28. A group of Uighur
sportsmen published an article calling on the newspaper's editorial
staff not to incite inter-ethnic discord with biased coverage of a

ASTANA 00000204 002 OF 002


small incident. The newspaper published its interviews on the case
with the local akim, some residents of the village and even local
high school students. Only the school students confirmed that there
had been numerous scuffles between local young Kazakhs and the young
Uighurs who emigrated from China. Mazhilis member Serik
Abdrakhmanov gave his comments on the incident, warning the public
against stirring up discord. Finally, Uralbayev and "Svoboda Slova"
editor-in-chief Yergaliyeva published their justification of why the
article had been written and published.


11. Deputy Procurator General Bakhtybayev stated during a December
26 press conference in Astana that the incident in Shelek had been
discussed by the collegium of the Procurator General's office. It
found that the incident was exaggerated by biased coverage in the
mass media. The Procurator General instructed the oblast procurator
to give his opinion about the causes and how the incident was
exaggerated in mass media, stressing that there would be follow-up.

Public Organization in Defense of Opposition Parties
-------------- --------------


12. A group of public organizations (Human Rights Bureau, AdilSoz,
Union of Journalists, Almaty Helsinki Committee and Charter for
Human Rights) monitoring the registration of political parties sent
an inquiry to the Ministry of Justice Registration Committee asking
why it has not registered the Alga and Social-Democratic parties.
On December 8, 2006, Alga's application for registration was
suspended again after it applied for registration for the third time
on November 10. On November 22, 2006, the MOJ suspended review of
the registration application of the Social-Democratic Party. The
MOJ referred to legal provisions which allow the ministry to suspend
a registration application to verify the list of the party members.


Afghan Veterans Oppose Sending Forces to Afghanistan
-------------- --------------


13. The Combat Brotherhood Union of Afghan War Veterans objects to
the idea of sending a Kazakhstani military contingent to
Afghanistan, the leader of the union, Sergey Pashevich, stated at a
press conference in Almaty on December 20. Pashevich cited a visit
of an officer of the Ministry of Defense to Afghanistan as a sign of
that the GOK is considering the deployment of Kazakhstani troops.
The Union sent an open letter to parliament warning deputies against
sending Kazakhstani military servicemen to Afghanistan.

Bulat Abilov's Trial Continues
--------------


14. On January 10, the Bostandyk district court in Almaty continued
hearings in the trial of Bulat Abilov and his business partners
(reftel). Pol-Econ Chief and Pol FSN observed the proceedings. The
court considered several motions filed by the defense, including a
request to adjourn the hearing until January 30 to allow the defense
adequate time to scrutinize the 125 volumes of evidence, a request
to replace the three Kazakh-Russian interpreters with qualified
ones, a request to exclude one of the three procurators as he
allegedly drove a defendant in a previous case to commit suicide,
and a request to exclude the judge in the case for bias toward the
prosecution. All the motions were rejected. The judge then
adjourned the hearing until January 29.

Journalist Toguzbayev's Trial
--------------


15. On January 12, the Bostandyk district court in Almaty held
another hearing in the trial of journalist Kazis Toguzbayev
(reftel). Pol FSN observed the proceedings. The court heard the
testimony of three state experts who analyzed the language of the
articles and concluded that they insulted the president's dignity
and honor. It turned out that there were two examinations because
the first one was poor. The defense insisted that the Criminal
Procedure Code had been violated, because Toguzbayev had not been
notified about the examinations and their findings.


16. Toguzbayev announced that he had sent a letter to President
Nazarbayev asking whether his articles insulted Nazarbayev's dignity
and honor. In this connection, Toguzbayev's lawyer asked the court
to adjourn the hearing until Nazarbayev responds to Toguzbayev's
letter. The judge rejected the request as well as the majority of
other motions by the defense. The judge announced the next hearing
for January 16 and asked the parties to be ready for concluding
arguments.

MILAS