KAZAKHSTAN: ALMATY NOTES, MAY 11 - 22

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000929 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL ECON SOCI KIRF KDEM KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: ALMATY NOTES, MAY 11 - 22 ASTANA 00000929 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (U) The "Almaty Notes" series from U.S. Office Almaty focuses on developments in civil society, the media, and the political opposition in Kazakhstan's "southern capital." TRIAL OF OPPOSITION LEADERS ENDS ¶3. (U) The trial of opposition leaders Bulat Abilov, Asylbek Kozhakhmetov and Tolen Tokhtasynov came to an end on May 22. The procurator asked the judge to find the opposition leaders guilty of concealing a serious crime. (NOTE: The opposition leaders had signed letters supporting an asylum request made in Ukraine by Yesentay Baysakov, a Kazakhstani citizen previously involved with the opposition, who turned out to be a suspect in a murder. END NOTE.) At the same time, the procurator asked the judge not impose any punishment because the statute of limitations had expired in April. The judge satisfied these requests in his May 22 verdict. ¶4. (U) Civil society leader Yevgeniy Zhovtis, who served as defense attorney for the opposition leaders, described the judge's ruling as "controversial." He said it was not clear if the guilty verdict would nevertheless have legal consequences for the opposition leaders (such as barring them from participating in future elections). In any event, they plan to lodge an appeal. ¶5. (SBU) Abilov's deputy, Peter Svoik, told us on May 20 that the case was designed to target another opposition leader, Galymzhan Zhakiyanov. According to Svoik, the authorities had hoped to lure Baysakov and his brother back from Ukraine and get them to testify against Zhakiyanov in the murder case. However, the Baysakovs did not return to Kazakhstan and Svoik believes they are unlikely to do so. In addition, Abilov refused to testify against the Baysakovs. Now the authorities have no option but to quietly let the case against the opposition figures drop, Svoik claimed. CAMPAIGN FOR A FREE INTERNET ¶6. (U) On May 15, an activist from the Campaign For A Free Internet, Irina Mednikova, was warned by an Almaty procurator not to organize a "flash mob" -- a form of protest which has become increasingly common in Almaty. However, she ignored the warning, and on May 16, approximately 30 youth activists from the Campaign For A Free Internet assembled in Arbat square in Almaty to protest against a draft law on the Internet which was recently sent to the Senate. The activists told passers-by that the new law would limit access to the Internet in Kazakhstan. Police watched the protest, but did not interfere. No one was detained. NEW MASS MOVEMENT ¶7. (U) On May 13, the Leave the Houses to the People organization held a press conference to announce that it is starting a new mass movement, "Kazakhstan - 2012." The movement will unite individuals with burdensome mortgages and "dolshiki" (i.e., people who lost savings they invested into the construction of housing that has not been completed). According to the leaders of the new movement -- a group which includes noted activist Aynur Kurmanov -- its coordination committee alone includes more than 5,000 people. The slogan of the new movement is, "Change Your Policy, or We Will Change (Replace) You." One participant in the new movement, Akhmet Askharov, said, "We firmly state that we will not support the current regime in the next elections, and that is why we called our movement 'Kazakhstan - 2012.'" TRADE UNION ROUND TABLE ¶8. (U) On May 16 in Almaty, leaders of several independent trade unions, together with NGO activists, held a round table on "Problems of the Consolidation of Trade Unions in Kazakhstan." It was the first event of its kind during the past decade. Participants included Pavel Shumkin of the Independent Trade Union of Miners, Ivan Bulgakov of the Eastern Kazakhstan Copper Industry Trade Union, Daniyar Besbayev of the Oil Industry Workers Trade Union, Sergey Belkin of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions, and representatives of Aynur Kurmanov's Socialist Resistance movement. Many participants argued that the current economic crisis has ASTANA 00000929 002.2 OF 002 created favorable conditions for reviving the organized labor movement. The pro-government Federation of Trade Unions of Kazakhstan refused to attend the round table. UNIFICATION CHURCH UNDER INVESTIGATION ¶9. (SBU) On May 12, an Almaty procurator ordered authorities tojyaQNQguilty verdict against Drenicheva, but vacated the prison term. During a meeting with us on May 21, Unification Church leaders Konstantin Krylov and Tatyana Andrushchenko expressed serious concern about the investigation. MILAS