Joint Press Release: Freedom of assembly on trial: Proceedings against two human rights defenders to begin tomorrow

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JOINT PRESSRELEASE

KAZAKHSTAN:Freedom of assembly on trial: Proceedings against two human rights defenders tobegin tomorrow

Geneva-Paris-Brussels-Almaty, 11October 2016. The day before the trial against human rights defenders MaxBokayev and Talgat Ayan begins in Atyrau (Kazakhstan), national andinternational human rights organisations are calling for the proceedings to beconducted in full compliance with international due process and fair trialstandards. These organisations will monitor the trial, including in theframework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders(OMCT-FIDH partnership) and the Civic Solidarity Platform (CSP) – a network ofover 80 human rights NGOs from across Europe, the former Soviet Union and NorthAmerica.

Thejudicial harassment and the arbitrary detention of Max Bokayev, a prominentcivil society activist who heads the NGO “Arlan”, and Talgat Ayan, a lawyer andactivist, have been ongoing since 17 May 2016. On that day, they were botharrested in Atyrau in retaliation for their crucial role in the peacefulprotests against controversial amendments to Kazakhstan’s Land Code that tookplace in Kazakhstan in April and May, as well as their critical statements onthis issue on social media platforms. In response to the peaceful land reformprotests, the Kazakhstani authorities adopted a predominantly repressiveapproach including by detaining well-known civic activists and civil societyleaders, as well as by refusing to grant authorisation for peaceful rallies.

“The criminal cases against MaxBokayev and Talgat Ayan appear to be aimed at punishing them because of theircriticism of the Land Code reform and at sending a chilling message to civilsociety in the country. We urge the Kazakhstani authorities to ensure that theproceedings are carried out in full compliance with the right to a fair trial,as guaranteed by international law and to acquit the two defenders”,the five organisations declared.

Thetrial against Max Bokayev and Talgat Ayan will begin at Atyrau’sCity Court No. 2 at 10.30 am on 12 October 2016. The two human rightsdefenders are facing charges for of “institution inciting of social discord”(Criminal Code Article 174), “dissemination of knowingly false information” (Article274) and “violation of the procedure of organisation and holding of meetings,rallies, pickets, street processions and demonstrations” (Article 400) and faceimprisonment for a term of up to ten years. Both were remanded to pre-trialdetention in spite of requests for house arrest for medical reason. Max Bokayevsuffers from chronic hepatitis C and needs constant medical care.

“Our organisations will have trialobservers monitoring this high-profile and precedent-setting trial where notonly two human rights defenders, but the very right to peaceful protest inKazakhstan is on trial. Moreover, we have received particularly worryingreports about attempts of intimidation of local trial observers and wetherefore call on the government of Kazakhstan to fully respect the principleof transparency and publicity of judicial proceedings by ensuring unhindered accessfor all national and international observers”, the fiveorganisations said.

Signatories:

· OMCT and FIDH in the framework oftheir partnership, the Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the EuropeanUnion Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civilsociety. OMCT is member of the CSP.

· International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), inthe framework of the CSP.

· Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights andRule of Law (KIBHR)

· Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC).

For more information, pleasecontact:

· OMCT: Miguel Martín / DelphineReculeau: + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39

· FIDH: Audrey Couprie / Arthur Manet:+ 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18

· IPHR: Brigtte Dufour: + 32 473 36 38 91

· KIBHR: YevgeniyZhovtis: + 7 727 225 4271

· NHC: Sofia Skrypnyk, +31 70 392 6700