ASTANA (TCA) — Authorities in Kazakhstan have intensified a crackdown on activists ahead of planned nationwide protests on May 21 against controversial new legislation on the privatization of agricultural land in the country, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported on May 18.
Courts handed down short jail sentences to several activists in Astana, Almaty, and other cities, while police searched the homes and offices of government opponents, according to activists and authorities.
Hundreds of people have protested in several cities in recent weeks in a rare display of discontent in Kazakhstan.
The protesters oppose new land privatization laws that will allow foreigners to lease state-owned agricultural plots for up to 25 years.
Activists say they fear land auctions would not be transparent, paving the way for corruption. They have said they plan to hold large demonstrations on May 21 despite the crackdown and President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s May 5 order to postpone the implementation of the legislation until 2017.
In the western city of Atyrau, where the first protests took place last month, a court handed down 15-day jail sentences to activists Maks Bokaev and Talgat Ayanov at a hearing that lasted until the early hours of May 18, relatives said.
Tolepkali Ayanov, a defense lawyer who represented his son, Talgat, said the activists were arrested in the morning the day before.
He said that the two men were accused of planning unsanctioned public rallies, and that their social media posts were used as evidence against them.
Similar charges were brought against several activists in Almaty, where at least five people were sentenced to 15 days in custody in separate trials late on May 17 and on May 18.
In the city of Oral, activist Zhanat Esentaev was jailed on May 17 and was being kept in three-day pretrial custody, his lawyer said.
Hearings continued in Oral on May 18, with Bauyrzhan Alipkaliev and Aibolat Bukenov sentenced to 15 days in custody each.
Both men were accused of organizing illegal protests, a charge that stemmed from their recent social-media posts about the planned May 21 protests.
In the capital, Astana, meanwhile, activist Maksat Ilyasuly was sentenced to 10 days in custody late on May 17, his wife told RFE/RL.
Ilyasuly had recently quit a commission authorities set up to review the land-reform plans.
The government established the commission and invited some opposition figures to join it after Nazarbayev postponed implementation of the legislation until 2017 – both apparent attempts to appease its opponents and avert further protests.
