On the morning of Wednesday, 2 May, Campaign Kazakhstan protesters picketed the Kazakhstan embassy in London as it reopened after the May Day holiday. The picket demanded the immediate release of the Kazakhstan opposition activists – Larissa Boyer, Baxatjan Torevozhina and Kanat Ibragimov – along with an end to all harassment and repression against ‘dissenters’. We handed a letter to the consul who spoke to us. He claimed no knowledge of the case. When he suggested that no-one in Kazakhstan was locked up unless they were guilty, he was met with howls of outrage from the protest.
He agreed to look into the case and get back to Campaign Kazakhstan. We promised that, unless these three were freed and all harassment ceased, we would make sure the issue was raised throughout the trade union movement in Britain.
