On the 30th January, in Taraz city, on the Kazakh-Kyrghiz border, a judge in a regional court refused to end the arrest of Vadim Kuramshin, following the opening of an investigation on charges of “extortion”. Vadim will now remain in jail while the investigation continues, which could take some months.
Vadim was arrested by police in the city’s regional Prosecutor’s office building. Vadim was accused of trying to extort a considerable sum of money from one of the Prosecutors. This absurd charge was lodged despite similar accusations being made against the Prosecutor himself, who had been filmed demanding huge bribes for traders to release property that had been illegally impounded.
Vadim, who is well-known for his defense of prisoners’ and human rights, was asked by a group of traders to assist them in uncovering the corruption of the local bureaucrats and police. In his capacity of representative of this group Vadim met with the Prosecutor to demand that unless the bribe was repaid to the traders, they would lodge an official complaint against him. This was used by the police to arrest the human rights activist, who the authorities have long wanted to silence because of his support for the rights of prisoners.
We call on human rights groups, trade unionists and all others to protest in the strongest terms possible against Vadim’s continued imprisonment, his immediate release from jail and for the dropping of all charges against him. It is no coincidence that Vadim’s incarceration takes place against the background of widespread arrests of opposition figures in Kazakhstan and following the massacre of oil workers in western Kazakhstan at the hands of police on 16 December.
Please send urgent protests to the Embassy of Kazakhstan in your country or to the nearest Embassy to you, and to the Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry email at: mid@mid.kz.
