Case History: Bolatbek Blyalov
On 21 January 2016, Bolatbek Blyalov admitted guilt and repented. He was released under the terms of restricted freedom for three years. He is prohibited from changing his place of residence, work and spending time in public areas during the imposed term.
On 11 November 2015, human rights defender Bolatbek Blyalov was accused of “inciting national discord” on the grounds of six video interviews that have been published on YouTube.
He has been held for two months in pre-trial detention.
Bolatbek Blyalov is a human rights defender who works on economic and social rights, and is the head of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights. Bolatbek Blyalov has been detained several times during peaceful protests.
Update: On 21 January 2016, Bolatbek Blyalov admitted guilt and repented. He was released under the terms of restricted freedom for three years. He is prohibited from changing his place of residence, work and spending time in public areas during the imposed term.
On 11 November 2015, human rights defender Bolatbek Blyalov was accused of “inciting national discord” on the grounds of six video interviews that have been published on YouTube.
He has been held for two months in pre-trial detention.
Bolatbek Blyalov is a human rights defender who works on economic and social rights, and is the head of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights. Bolatbek Blyalov has been detained several times during peaceful protests.
On 30 October 2015, police conducted a search at the apartment of Bolatbek Blyalov, during which his electronic equipment and documents were seized. The search warrant, issued by the Office of the Prosecutor in Astana, stated that Bolatbek Blyalov published six videos on YouTube that can be seen as an act of incitement of national discord. In the videos, Bolatbek Blyalov comments on the fact that Russian nationalism plays an important role in the escalation of conflict in Ukraine, and on the use of the Russian language in the education system of Kazakhstan.
On 9 November 2015, Bolatbek Blyalov was arrested by police and accused of “inciting social, national, clan, racial, class, or religious discord” under the section 1 Article 174 of the Criminal Code. On 11 November 2015, a court in Astana extended his pretrial detention to two months and amended the charges on the basis that the “violations were committed via mass-media”. If convicted, Blyalov faces up to ten years of imprisonment under the section 2 of the Article 174 of the Criminal Code.
Front Line Defenders believes that the arrest and charges against Bolatbek Blyalov are directly linked to his work in defence of human rights and constitute an infringement of his right to free speech.
