HRW calls on Kazakh authorities to drop prosecution and release Temirlan Yensebek
The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch called on the Kazakh authorities to drop the criminal charges brought against the author of the satirical public QazNews24 Temirlan Yensebek and release him from custody. The organization is quoted by the publication "Vlast".
“There are no crimes here, only abuses of criminal law by the authorities. The Kazakh authorities should waste no time in dropping the baseless and excessive criminal charge of ‘incitement’ brought against Yensebek and releasing him from pre-trial detention,” said Mira Rittmann, senior Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch.
HRW and other rights groups have repeatedly said the Kazakh government should amend Article 174 of the criminal code on “incitement to hatred,” as the crime is so vague and broad that it can be used to criminalize legitimate speech and conduct protected under human rights law, particularly the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, and association.
"Kazakhstan must uphold the right to free speech and peaceful assembly, drop the criminal charges and release Yensebek. Satire is not a crime, nor is peaceful protest against the arrest of a blogger," Rittmann added.
Recall that Temirlan was arrested on January 17 for two months. He is currently in a temporary detention facility. A criminal case is being investigated against him. He is suspected of violating Article 174 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Incitement of social, national, tribal, racial, class or religious hatred" by publishing on social networks. Punishment under this article provides for a fine of two to seven thousand MCI or restriction or imprisonment from two to seven years. According to the lawyer of the detainee, the reason for the arrest was the comic song "You, orystar", which Yensebek added to a satirical post about Russian TV presenter Tina Kandelaki. After Temirlan's arrest, journalists and activists in different cities of Kazakhstan began to go out on single pickets with the inscriptions "Satire is the best."
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