Socialist activist Ainur Kurmanov jailed for 14 days on trumped-up charges

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Socialist activist Ainur Kurmanov jailed for 14 days on trumped-up charges

www.socialistworld.net, 27/04/2010
website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI
Send urgent protests – For the immediate release of Socialist Resistance leader!
CWI reporters, Moscow
http://www.socialistworld.net/img/20100427Grafik4183997868539461170.jpg


Today we learned that a law court in Almaty, Kazakhstan, sentenced Ainur Kurmanov, leader of Socialist Resistance Kazakhstan (CWI), to 14 days in jail. Reportedly, the court decided to charge Ainur with organizing an “unsanctioned picket” in front of the ATF Bank in the city, a couple of months ago. The same ridiculous charge was made by the court last month and thrown out, at that trial, by the judge (see ‘Kazakhstan: Farcical trial of socialist Ainur Kurmanov’, socialistworld.net, 26/03/2010). During that hearing, Peter Taaffe, General Secretary of the Socialist Party (England and Wales), and Rob Jones from the CWI Russian section, were in court. This international scrutiny undoubtedly had an impact on the attempted travesty of justice. The March trial was a farce from start to end. The trial was farcical. As the March trial quickly established, the “unsanctioned picket” was organized by the trade union of the First of May Mechanical Factory from Ust Kamenogorsk, who were protesting at the attempts of the company’s shareholders to shut the factory and asset strip it. The police “witnesses” against Ainur were quickly revealed to be stooges. At the end of the trial, the judge announced Ainur not guilty.
This was the first occasion for some time that Ainur has not received a 2 week sentence from such a court, a result undoubtedly due to the wide support given to Ainur locally and also the presence in the court of representatives of the CWI. Ainur was, however, fined 25000 tenge (125 euros) for being in a place from which he had been banned by a previous court decision.


The Kazakhstan regime clearly fears the influence of socialist fighters like Ainur, who is also a well-known spokesperson for ‘Kazakhstan 2012’, an initiative driven by the CWI, aimed at uniting the different social protest movements and independent trade unions. Recently at its founding conference, Kazakhstan 2012 called for the nationalization of the banking and construction sectors, for militant campaigning to achieve full democratic rights for the population of Kazakhstan, and for the capitalist system to be replaced with socialism.
Regime fears opposition

The Almaty judge’s actions today - sentencing Ainur to another two weeks in jail - may well been motivated by the absence on this occasion of observers from the international workers’ movement in court. But the CWI will ensure this outrageous sentence is made known around the world and that it will bring about many protests. It is essential that pressure is maintained on the Kazakhstan regime, which claims to be a democratic state but, in reality, is no more than a police dictatorship with the pretence of a parliament. This is particularly the case because Kazakhstan is currently Chair of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the very body that is supposed to safeguard human and democratic rights!


This attack on an uncompromising fighter for workers and the poor in the Kazakhstan cannot be accepted. Please send urgent protests demanding Ainur’s immediate release to:
·The Procuror in Almata at [email protected] and to
·Your local Kazakhstan Embassy
Please send copies of your protests to:
[email protected]



“Release Ainur Kurmanov - Stop the repression of socialist and worker activists!”

www.socialistworld.net, 27/04/2010
website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI
Joe Higgins MEP protests over jailing of socialist activist Ainur Kurmanov
Socialistworld.net

The following protest was sent, today, by Joe Higgins MEP (Member of the European Parliament) Socialist Party (CWI in Ireland) to the Kazakhstan Procuror’s office and to the Ambassador.
Please send urgent protests demanding Ainur’s immediate release to the addresses already provided (for details see: ‘Kazakhstan: Socialist activist Ainur Kurmanov jailed for 14 days on trumped-up charges’,www.socialistworld.net, 27/04/2010 ).
Please also protest to the OSCE, of which Kazakhstan is currently Chair.
Socialistworld.net


Protest Letter from Joe Higgins
Dear Procuror & Ambassador,
I write to express my outrage at the jailing of socialist activist, Ainur Kurmanov for organizing an "unsanctioned picket" in front of the ATF Bank, at a court in Almaty today.


The fact that Ainur was charged with the same offence a few months ago and that was thrown out by the judge, demonstrates the farcical nature of the charge.


It is clear that the jailing of Mr. Kurmanov is driven by fear of the developing movements of social protest and independent trade unions.
I will be immediately raising this issue with my fellow MEPs in the European Parliament. I am sure that the irony of Kazakhstan being the current Chair of the OSCE, an organisation that is supposed to safeguard human rights, will not be lost on them!
I call on you to immediately ensure the release of Ainur Kurmanov and to stop the repression of socialist and worker activists in Kazakhstan.
Yours faithfully,
Joe Higgins MEP


Member of the European Parliament
Socialist Party (Ireland)

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Ainur Kurmanov jailed for the ‘crime’ of reporting opposition social movements

www.socialistworld.net, 28/04/2010
website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI
Socialist activist starts hunger strike – Step up protests!
Socialistworld.net
http://www.socialistworld.net/img/20100428Ainur.jpg
Yesterday, socialistworld.net reported the arrest and jailing of CWI member, Ainur Kurmanov. The Kazakhstan regime dispenses arbitrary ‘justice’ and is not keen to disclose its decisions. However, socialistworld.net today received more accurate information about Ainur’s jailing yesterday. He was not put on trial for the same offence that he was charged with in March, as first reported. Ainur was in fact arrested following a picket two days ago. He was taken to court yesterday and charged with “organising a picket” in front of a bank, Temir Bank, and given a maximum sentence of a fortnight imprisonment. The picket was actually organized by the opposition social movement, ‘Kazakhstan 2012’, to protest over home repossessions. Ainur was not actually organizing the picket but there was there in his capacity as a journalist. His possession of a dictaphone - – a normal tool of the journalist’s trade - was cited as ‘evidence’ against him! Ainur was also denied legal representation. The lawyer who represented Ainur previously has not been allowed to visit Ainur in jail.
Ainur has started a hunger strike in protest at his imprisonment. An appeal against Ainur’s sentence is being made on his behalf by supporters and lawyers.
We appeal to all readers to immediately send protests to the nearest Kazakhstan Embassy and also to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), of which Kazakhstan holds the position of Chair.
Ainur is a journalist but is being prevented by the regime from carrying out his work. The regime obviously fears open reporting of opposition social movements. We appeal to journalists’ unions and progressive organisations everywhere to protest Ainur’s jailing.
The CWI in Kazakhstan is in no doubt that the latest state action against Ainur is linked to the regime’s concern about events in the region, particularly the recent revolutionary movement in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan. The spectacle in Ukraine’s parliament yesterday, where deputies hurled eggs at one another and got involved in fist fights, is indicative that the former Soviet Union is entering a highly unstable and explosive situation.
Please send urgent protests to:

Almaty Procuror: www.prokuroralm.kz
Government (Akimat) of Almaty city: +7 (727) 271 65 79 [email protected] to Ahmatjan Esimov, Governor (Akim) of Almaty
Kairat Mami, General Prosecutor or the Republic of Kazakhstan: [email protected] Fax: +7 717250-25-34
Please also send protests to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe:

OSCE Secretariat, Wallnerstrasse 6, 1010 Vienna, Austria, Tel: +43 1 514 36 6000, Fax: +43 1 514 36 6996, Send E-mail
It is important that we ensure all protests reach the authorities. Ainur’s legal representatives can strive to deliver messages in person, which can have a big impact on the authorities. Please send copies of your protests to:
[email protected] and [email protected]

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Kazakhstan

State repression of activists intensifies

www.socialistworld.net, 05/05/2010
website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI
Free Ainur Kurmanov and drop all charges against leaders of workers’ movement
News is reaching socialistworld.net of further arrests and harassment of fighters in the labour movement in Kazakhstan. One is Esen Ukteshbaev and the other is Vadim Kuramskin. Both were interviewed by Peter Taaffe, Secretary of the Socialist Party, England and Wales on his recent visit to Kazakhstan (see accompanying article (http://www.socialistworld.net/view/4254) and previous reports (http://www.socialistworld.net/view/50)).
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International protests have flooded in to the authorities in Almaty, demanding the release of Ainur Kurmanov from totally unjustified imprisonment. (See previous reports on this site). Now his lawyer is being allowed to see him and he will appear in court this Thursday (6 May) to appeal against his sentence. His ’crime’ was being present as a journalist at a protest against Temir Bank - one of the banks repossessing the homes of people unable to make the massive repayments they demand on their loans. Friends and supporters of Ainur delivered these protests in person to the senior judge of the Almaty court on Tuesday 4 May.
At the same time, a co-organiser of the workers’ and popular movement, “Kazakhstan 2012” was summonsed to appear in court on Wednesday, 5 May, on charges of organising an illegal demonstration on May Day. Esen Ukteshbaev risks being imprisoned for doing what millions of workers and socialist activists have been doing for a century and a half, celebrating workers’ struggles and saluting workers’ leaders who have given their lives for the socialist cause.
This further scandalous attack on the basic democratic rights of workers in Kazakhstan must be vigorously denounced. Protests must be sent to the same addresses as those for Ainur.
Then comes news that the other heroic activist interviewed by Peter Taaffe, Vadim Kuramskin has been arrested for simply attending the conference which launched the Kazakhstan section of the CWI.
This too must be condemned...again to the same authorities. The more they attack, the more the members and supporters of the CWI around the world will protest.
The activists of “Kazakhstan 2012” are extremely appreciative of the world-wide support they are receiving. We are asking for the pressure to be maintained.
Protest at Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe

This Monday (3 May), a protest was organised by CWI members outside the headquarters in Vienna of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe – an organisation supposedly to uphold democratic and humane practices. This year it is presided over by none other than Kazakhstan and its president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, amongst the greatest desecrators of basic human and democratic rights, including the freedom of the press.


“We handed over a protest resolution” writes one of the organisers. “It was signed by a number of shop-stewards and trade union and left organisations...The spokesperson, who was head of press and public information, said they already knew about the case, and that the OSCE representative for freedom of the media had already spoken to the Kazakhstan representative about it and we would be kept informed of progress. We’ll see!”


Below is a letter sent on Tuesday to the OSCE as well as to the authorities in Kazakhstan demanding an end to the persecution of the workers’ movement in that country. Please raise your voice in solidarity with the activists and socialists facing daily harassment and persecution in that country.
To: the Almaty Prosecutor, the Government (Akimat) of Almaty city, Kairat Mami, General Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe

The Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI) has alerted its sections and supporters in over 40 countries across the world about the arrest and jailing of CWI member, Ainur Kurmanov. They are communicating their outrage and demanding Ainur’s immediate release.


Ainur was arrested last week and charged with “organising a picket” in front of a bank, Temir Bank. He was given a maximum sentence of a fortnight imprisonment. The picket was actually organized by the opposition social movement, ‘Kazakhstan 2012’, to protest over home repossessions. Ainur was present at the picket in his capacity as a journalist. Ainur was denied legal representation during his court hearing. We are aware that Ainur started a hunger strike in protest at his imprisonment


We understand that Kazakhstan authorities responsible have been inundated with protests from around the world at this outrageous jailing. It was reported to us that during a picket of the city court in Almaty comrades and friends of Ainur handed over letters of protest from many countries to a judge. As well as this, protests have been sent to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), of which Kazakhstan holds the position of Chair. Yesterday, a protest was held outside the OSCE Head Office in Vienna, Austria.


We understand that an appeal on behalf of Ainur will held on Thursday. We demand this appeal is allowed to take place, that all charges are dropped and that Ainur is released immediately, without delay.


As well as this, we also learnt today that one of Ainur’s comrades, Esen Ukteshbaev, who is one of the founders of ’Kazakhstan 2012’, will appear in court on 5 May for organizing a peaceful meeting on 1 May (May Day). We also call for all charges against Esen to be immediately dropped and for his immediate release.


Until these two courageous campaigners are released and all charges against them dropped, the CWI will redouble its efforts to ensure that repression of opposition activists and journalists in Kazakhstan is stopped.
Yours,
International Secretariat,
Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI).
See CWI Kazakhstan web-site (http://www.socialismkz.info/) for protest and solidarity messages from around the world in English. Also there is video of Ainur in court, and much more.



Kazakhstan

Persecuted activists speak out

www.socialistworld.net, 05/05/2010
website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI
It is clear that a wave of arrests and repression against left and social movement activists in Kazakhstan is gathering pace.
Interviews by Peter Taaffe, Secretary Socialist Party (England and Wales) and International Sercretariat of the CWI
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Following the arrest and sentencing to 15 days in prison of Ainur Kurmanov last week, the last few days has seen the refusal of printshops to print, and the blocking of web sites run by, the newspapers “Respublika” and “Golos respubliki”.
Pressure has been stepped up on activists of the “Defend Peoples’ Homes”, in particular, Dmitrii Burminskii in Chimkent in the South of Kazakhstan and Vadim Kuramskin, in Petropavlovsk in North Kazakhstan who has only just finished a sentence of over 3 years in prison (see interview below) and has now been rearrested. According to his parole officer, this is because he was recently in Almaty, where he participated in a conference of Socialist Resistance (CWI in Kazakhstan) and has been particularly active on the internet! In the mining city of Karaganda police have been surrounding the home of left activist, Andrei Tsukanov.
This stepping up of repression is meeting resistance not only internationally but in the CIS and Kazakhstan itself. A picket of the Kazakh Embassy in Moscow has taken place. Protests and support has been piling in from all over the country and all over the world. A protest was held demanding Ainur’s release outside the Central Court in Almaty. After unfolding placards and reading out the numerous letters of support and protest from all over the world, two activists of Socialist Resistance, Alken Kenzhebaev and Dmitrii Tikhonov were arrested. After being held for five hours, they were dragged before the Court where, to everyone’s surprise, they were let off with a warning.
Yesenbek Ukteshbaev, Chair of the Strike Committee of the Almatinskii Train Wagon Repair Factory (see interview below), is in court today in connection with the organisation of the May Day demonstration in the city. Protests need to be stepped up (See separate article).
Fight to the finish!

Workers’ leaders speak about lives of struggle in Kazakhstan

Carried here are two interviews made by Peter Taaffe - Secretary of the Socialist Party England and Wales and member of the CWI’s International Secretariat - on a recent visit to Kazakhstan. One is with Esen Ukteshbaev and the other with Vadim Kuramskin. Both are important activists in the workers’ movement and participants in ‘Kazakhstan 2012’, the workers’ and popular opposition party attempting to stand against Nazarbayev in the 2012 Kazakhstan elections. As mentioned above, both are again being hounded by the regime.
Interview with Yesenbek Ukteshbaev

Yesen is the Joint Chair of the Strike Committee of the YRYSTY Almatinskii Train Wagon Repair Factory in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where workers took part in a two month strike last Summer with the demand to nationalise the factory under workers’ control. He gave this interview:
Peter Taaffe: Yesen, can you tell our readers about the long campaign you conducted in your factory, which resulted in your victimisation?

Yesen: I worked in the factory, a plant of 2,000 workers, one of the most important in Kazakhstan, which repairs train wagons for the whole of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Kazakhstan, which repairs train wagons for the whole of Kazakhstan and Central Asia. I am an engineer and I was in charge of the standardisation. I was responsible for the introduction of the quality management system in the factory and this gave me, as head auditor, access to many documents in the factory. It became clear to me and my fellow workers that the plant was being prepared intentionally for bankruptcy.


From this I drew the conclusion of the need to organise a very effective ‘strike’ against the corruption which resulted from the privatisation of the plant in 2005, and the plans of management to asset strip, close it down completely and sell it off.


My inside knowledge of how management had behaved and what they intended helped us to prepare. Two local kindergartens connected with the factory were closed, plus a youth camp in the mountains. We began to move into opposition to management and contacted others in Kazakhstan – particularly Ainur and the Committee for a Workers’ International – to organise opposition. We drew up a report and wrote to the prime minister, to the president of the KNB (the Kazakhstan secret service), to the State Prosecutor and the Tax Police, but no action was taken.


Our strike was not a ‘typical’ strike, more a protest of occupation or semi-occupation in a titanic struggle with management to defend workers’ rights, conditions and the integrity of the plant. The issue that provoked our action arose from the massive breaches of the labour rights laws by management and private owners. Once we took action, that forced the state authorities such as the Labour inspectorate, audit committee and KNB to start an enquiry, a “complex investigation” in their terminology. Of course they tried to cover everything up but because we were watching over them they came up with a 72 page report of breaches.


This plant was privatised in 2005 even though it had been designated as a strategically important factory, which according to the law should have stayed in state hands. There was no right of the new owners to proceed in the way that they did, just stripping the plant down and selling it off, they were just interested in getting their hands on the valuable land under the factory. In fact, according to the law on privatisation, the first offer to take over the factory should have been made to the workforce, but this was ignored, they just announced to us who the new owner would be.
Managers were sacked in the technical departments who had worked there for 40 years. The new owners brought in their own people, ‘key specialists’, and began to pay them exorbitant wages – far higher than we, the workers in the factory, were getting. The management and their stooges were also selling off the resources of the factory, for instance copper was sold ‘on the side’ as ‘scrap’.
Peter: How did the workers view the situation in general?

Yesen: They were incensed because wages had been reduced by half and when we did get our wages, they were two or three months late. Sometimes workers would be laid off “on holiday” but with no holiday pay. It was the brutality of it all that angered me. Workers did not get enough for food while the bosses were building saunas on the premises for themselves!
Peter: How did this compare to pervious times, particularly when Kazakhstan was a planned economy, albeit with a corrupt heavy-handed bureaucracy?

Yesen: Well we had good facilities in a sense; the social network, kindergartens, youth camps, etc. Now workers are forced to bring in lunch for themselves where it was previously supplied by the factory canteen. More and more, the plant was in hock to the banks and management was buying expensive flats for themselves.


By the way, I was in possession of an order from the government in 1994 that for ten years this factory was of such strategic importance it should not be privatised. At one stage, 3,000 workers were employed in the factory, which was one of the biggest in Central Asia. It was a repair factory that served the whole region, not just Kazakhstan. Now, with the plundering that was taking place by the management, and the increased costs of supplies – a result of the cronyism of the management with the suppliers – the cost of jobs was five times more expensive than before.
It took a while for us to prepare the reports and we acquired secret documents which took us three months to get hold of. When we were ready, we began to organise, in effect underground strike committees, which met outside the factory. There were ten people to begin with. Unfortunately, somebody passed information to the management but management never came near us as leading up to the main confrontation. There were a number of occasions when strikes took place with the TV and the government supporting the management.
Under the old regime we had 24 days paid holiday, canteens and special food. After privatisation, holidays were cut to 14 days but, in effect, we had no holiday because we could not afford them. Those in control of the plant were deliberately running it down.


We estimated it was about one month from bankruptcy, therefore we had to act because we did not really have a massive campaign to prepare the workers; we did not tell the press in general although a number of journalists did know that a strike or a conflict was brewing. But we demanded a meeting with management and they did not know what to expect. We pulled all the workers into the main area for a general meeting of the workforce. We read out documentation. Workers were so angry at the state of the factory that if Nazarbeayev – the president – himself had been there, he would have been torn limb from limb.
The press was then allowed in and we elected strike committees, which included middle management and white-collar workers who were supporting us. The management barricaded themselves in their offices. We composed a letter and sent it to the management and the government; every worker signed this statement. Our main demands were:
1) Review privatisation and what it has meant for the factory and the workers.
2) Nationalisation of this factory immediately.
3) A system of workers’ control.
In the discussions that we had, our bottom line – our minimum, so to speak – was nationalisation of the plant. It was a do-or-die situation for us because if we had not have acted, the whole plant would have closed and that would have been a blow to Kazakhstan and the whole region, particularly the working people. This plant was so successful that even the world economic crisis had not undermined its production. We therefore gave the government a week to form a commission to discuss with us an act or we would take events into our own hands. The date for this was 30 June 2009.


The predictable reaction of the management– backed by the government – was that we could not strike but they were prepared to have a ‘dialogue’. This took the form of inviting three or four representatives of the action committee to meetings at different times during the day. Also, the threat of action by the workers – miraculously – literally the day after the mass meeting – money and resources began to appear. Now workers were paid wages in advance! By the end of the dispute all our health and safety demands were met, wages were paid up. But they did not concede our general demands – on nationalisation, etc. – and it was quite clear that they wanted to get rid of the organisers, particularly myself.
Peter: What was the attitude of the ‘official’ trade unions during the dispute?

Yesen: We had no confidence in the official trade unions. In fact, we wanted the union as such to be in the hands of the members. Under law, the management has no right to sack elected trade union officials. But this management did. We therefore organised in each department elected delegates – separate from the official trade union structure. I went around and below and organised the campaign.
Peter: Were you attacked or harassed?

Yesen: Yes definitely. We were ‘invited’ into the state prosecutor’s office and told to stop organising in the factory. We were interviewed by the KNB and kept for five and a half hours. There was a consistent campaign of harassment and I was getting no sleep so I dozed off at one moment and was threatened with the sack.
Peter: What was the culmination of this battle?

Yesen: Well management – obviously in collaboration with the government – bought time by delaying negotiations, dragging them out with different groups of workers. They undermined the strike committee by sending me to a meeting in Moscow. If I had refused to go, they would have sacked me on the spot. They then organised a special ‘trade union conference’ to try and resolve the dispute. The workforce overwhelmingly wanted me – and I was proposed – to become the president of the unions. I did not want to let them down but everything was done to keep me out of the conference. I was suspended, in effect, at this time. But when I was informed the conference was taking place, I came into the factory and visited the depots. They actually threatened to kick me out of the factory and two guards followed me around, so I called a press conference, got support from Ainur and what is now Kazakhstan 2012.


At the factory conference – which began at 3pm with only about 200 present – they dragged out the proceedings but the meeting was overwhelmingly on my side. After a number of harassments of me and our supporters, I was sacked on 1 September. The campaign against the workforce did have an effect as many workers were frightened of losing their jobs in a situation of mass unemployment. However, 30 resigned and management was also brutal in the reprisals they took, including sacking members of my family.
Peter: How do you see the situation now in the factory and in Kazakhstan, Yesin?

Yesen: We said at the time we were sacked that ‘we will be back’ and we will. The Nazarbayev regime is responsible for the brutal management and the anti-worker mood in the factory but we must fight back, both in the workplace and by providing a political alternative, the basis of which is Kazakhstan 2012.
Peter: Would you like to say anything to our readers?

Yesen: We value the support of the CWI and call for all workers throughout the world to support the struggles of their brothers and sisters in Kazakhstan.
Interview with Vadim Kuransham

Peter Taaffe: Vadim, you were jailed by Nazarbayev’s courts. Could you tell our readers what for?

Vadim: It is true that I was given a three-year prison sentence on 26 March 2006 under Article 129 of the Kazakhstan Criminal Code for an alleged ‘libel’.
Peter: What was the content of this ‘libel’?

Vadim: It was because I told the truth in a full-page article in a broadsheet newspaper about the dishonest behaviour, shameful robbery, of Kazakhstan citizens who were working on the land. I was sentenced for using one word: ‘manipulation’. I accused the authorities, together with the managers of ‘manipulating’ many things to the detriment of the workers.
Peter: Could you just briefly outline the background to your imprisonment?

Vadim: I was approached – as a well-known human rights lawyer – to help workers on the land in a dispute they had with the management of a privatised former collective farm. The property had been divided amongst former agricultural workers at the time of the decollectivisation of agriculture in Kazakhstan. The labourers had decided to form a kind of co-operative and applied for legal recognition from the authorities, which was granted.


When they tried to register the cooperative, they were told (wrongly) that they needed a “qualified director” and as the workers did not have anyone “qualified” they were told they should appoint one of the members of the ‘clan’ – a kind of ‘extended family’ which operates in Kazakhstan. But over ten years – from 1996 to 2006 – workers were getting poorer and poorer, and the director, naturally, was getting richer. The workers found out that he and his friends in the clan had bought expensive flats. He was therefore challenged and it was discovered that there were documents ratifying all kinds of purchases at the expense of the workers, which were criminal in character. The workers therefore decided to try and get rid of him, and had even approached a lawyer before me. This lawyer, however, said to the workers that ‘it would be mad to fight this’. Naïvely, the workers asked why, and he said, ‘Look who you are fighting!’
Peter: What did he mean by this?

V: Well it was obvious to the workers that they were not just fighting this ‘clan’ but it had powerful friends, both in the local government and in the national government itself around the Nazarbayev regime.
Peter: How did you get involved?

V: I was a human rights lawyer and, at that stage, I was in a kind of social-democratic opposition party, involved in challenging the big oil companies. I was approached, saw the documents and it was quite clear that the management had acted illegally and that they should be prosecuted for this and other criminal behaviour. We contacted the ‘financial police’ who are supposed to be obliged to take up cases like this. But for three months, nothing happened. They tried to frighten me and the workforce with threats. I was then beaten up by the police, which is quite common in Kazakhstan, as was shown by the recent beating of Ainur when he was imprisoned.


This did not dissuade me and I involved myself even more in the campaign in defence of the workers. We conducted a political campaign that involved hiring a bus, which we took to Petropavlovsk, the city where the authorities were located. When we reached the edge of the city, the city police – by that I mean the whole of the police – were waiting for us. The governor of the region, who we were lobbying, was linked to the management of this ex-collective farm. The police were implacable and, in fact, began to arrest women, with one woman breaking through and actually punching a policeman.


The governor, after this, agreed to meet us and promised: ‘I’ll sort everything out.’ We insisted on a discussion there and then. We pointed out that the regional governor had been wrong and that the workers wanted action. There was no legal document enshrining what had happened on this ex-collective and we therefore demanded the sacking of the current director – including his brother, who was involved.
Two weeks later, officials from the audit department confirmed the illegality of what had taken place. The ‘financial police’ ignored this – obviously under the orders of the Nazarbayev regime, who were connected to people involved in this criminal conspiracy against the workers. They then started to accuse the workers and me of having no evidence and, moreover, we were ‘against the president’. They then chose the one word in the article mentioned earlier – ‘manipulation’ – to drag me before the courts.
The laws of libel in Kazakhstan are incredible by the standards of anywhere else. The judge was completely in the pocket of the regime – which is again common in Kazakhstan – and their puppets in this particular case. There is absolutely no other case in Kazakhstan similar to the one that I went through with a similar charge of ‘libel’ on an issue like this. This, moreover, was carried through with no financial audit. I was therefore sentenced by a stooge court and judge, and then dragged off to prison for three years and eight months.
Peter: What was your reaction to the imprisonment?

Vadim: I naturally felt a great sense of injustice but did not expect the horrors to come. My own mother was not allowed to see me, having travelled hundreds or thousands of kilometres. She held her own protest against the injustice to me – outside the prison in freezing temperatures for two days. I was not allowed letters to my son.
Peter: What was your experience of prison like?

Vadim: I do not wish anybody to go through what I went through. I was morally and physically tortured by the guards. I was regularly beaten, with my arms pinned to a radiator. On one occasion, my trousers were pulled down and they inserted a wooden truncheon into my anus. I was put in a cell with a temperature of -39ºC for three months. I received no phone calls or any ‘concessions’ whatsoever. On the other hand, my refusal to kowtow to the guards and succumb to the pressure raised my standing in the eyes of the younger prisoners, who actually went on hunger strike in my defence.
I witnessed in the prison people who had murdered not once but several times treated more favourably than me. Many of them were released from prison while I rotted away in my cell. I actually received injections of drugs from them in order to keep me docile.
I was not allowed to write to my mother or my girlfriend until I had given an assurance of good behaviour. I had been turned down for release on three different occasions when I appeared before the prison board. Eventually, a political appointee – connected to the Nazarbayev regime – was on the panel. She asked me if I was released, ‘will you be political?’ naturally, I answered in the negative otherwise I would still be in prison.
Peter: What is your attitude now?

Vadim: I intend to continue the struggle. I want redress. The capitalist ‘opposition’ in Kazakhstan was not interested in my case and it was only Ainur and the comrades of Kazakhstan 2012 who have taken it up.
Peter: Do you still intend to be part of the opposition to the Nazarbayev regime?

Vadim: Yes. What have I got to lose? Because I came to the defence of workers, I lost my job, I lost my house, I lost my car, I lost three years of my life to inhumane treatment. I intend to fight until the conditions that led to this are eradicated. I also appeal to all in the West to support me in my struggle for redress against the Nazarbayev government, the criminals in this factory who conspired to have me imprisoned. In this way, you will be helping the general struggle for democratic rights for the peoples of Kazakhstan.

[Crux]

++ Stop Press ++

Kazakhstan

www.socialistworld.net, 05/05/2010
website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI
This morning, Wednesday 5 May, the court in Almaty sentenced Esen Ukteshbaev to five days imprisonment simply for being at a peaceful May Day demonstration last week-end. URGENT ACTION NEEDED.
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The Nazarbayev regime is trying to prevent revolt by clamping down on the movement of workers and ordinary citizens in his country.
Kazakhstan and its president, Nazarbayev, this year are heading the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). This organisation’s website says it, “Aims to ensure full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; to abide by the rule of law; to promote the principles of democracy by building, strengthening and protecting democratic institutions; and to promote tolerance throughout the OSCE region.” The actions of the Nazarbayev regime show it is trampling on these basic human and democratic rights.
Express your outrage in a flood of new protests via the following e-mail addresses and web-sites:

OSCE Secretariat, Wallnerstrasse 6, 1010 Vienna, Austria, Tel: +43 1 514 36 6000, Fax: +43 1 514 36 6996 Send e-mail via their web-site.
Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Pakistan, via your local embassy or www.akorda.kz.
Almaty Prosecutor: www.prokuroralm.kz
Government (Akimat) of Almaty city: +7 (727) 271 65 79 [email protected]
Kairat Mami, General Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan: [email protected] Fax: +7 717250-25-34
Copies to:

[email protected]
[email protected]

[Crux]

“Thanks comrades for support!”

www.socialistworld.net, 13/05/2010
website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI
Message from Ainur Kurmanov on his release from jail
Socialistworld.net
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Following two weeks imprisonment, Ainur Kurmanov, a well-known journalist and socialist activist, was released on 12 May. Ainur was arrested and charged with “organising a picket” in front of a bank, Temir Bank, and given a maximum sentence of a fortnight imprisonment. The picket was actually organized by the opposition social movement, ‘Kazakhstan 2012’, to protest over home repossessions. Ainur was not actually organizing the picket but there was there in his capacity as a journalist. Ainur went on hunger strike in protest at his imprisonment. An appeal was made against Ainur’s sentence but rejected. Many protests from around the world were sent to the Kazakhstan authorities over Ainur’s jailing and also to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), of which Kazakhstan holds the position of Chair.
On his release this week, Ainur made the following statement:

On the 12 May I was released from the special prison for those tried for “administrative crimes”, having been there for 15 days. As a protest against the frame up by the government, I maintained a hunger strike throughout my sentence. Whilst I was in prison, Yesenbek Ukteshbaev, leader of the protest movement, ‘Defend People’s Homes’ was also sentenced to five days and began a hunger strike in solidarity. Notwithstanding the pressure of the state, we gained a moral victory in our resistance, winning the sympathy and support of new people and protest groups.
The arrest and trial has only hardened our activists, demonstrated, once again, the real nature of this state, which is directly representing the interests of the finance and trade magnates, and moreover shown the weakness of the authorities, who, through their preventative arrests, attempted to prevent the demonstration taking place on 1 May. As we can see, all the efforts of the gendarmes proved pointless; we once again demonstrated our strength and unity. We want to express our thanks to all activists who have participated in the solidarity campaign with the arrested Kazakhstan socialists.
In particular, we want to highlight our comrades from Russia and the other sections of the CWI, from Austria, Britain, Germany, Canada, US, South Africa, Nigeria, Australia, Sri Lanka and other countries, as well as trade unions from Europe and Russia and the MEP, Joe Higgins. They organised pickets in our support in Austria outside the OSCE building and at the Kazakhstan embassy in Vienna. On 4 May, in Moscow, a picket was held at the Kazakhstan Embassy. Other support came from activists of other organizations, such as Vpered, RRP and the AKM, and from other left groups.
On 4 May, our comrades in Almaty organised a protest outside the City Court. This followed the mass protest outside the Head Office of Temir Bank on 30 April. On 1 May, a united demonstration of all the democratic opposition parties took place. As a result of all these activities, our comrades from the rights organisation, ‘Talmas’, for the first time in Kazakhstan, managed to achieve the personal participation of the arrested in their own appeals hearings.
We will develop and increase our activities, build and extend the forces of the “Kazakhstan 2012” movement, which we see as laying the basis for the creation of a new party of workers on a socialist programme. Our struggle continues, comrades! Let’s get back to work!
Ainur Kurmanov, CWI Kazakhstan