BISHKEK (TCA) — The Publisher’s note: Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Central Asia was the scene of intense geopolitical struggle and the Great Game between the British and Russian Empires, and later between the Soviet Union and the West, over Afghanistan and neighboring territories. Into the 21st century, Central Asia has become the area of a renewed geopolitical interest, dubbed the New Great Game, largely based on the region’s hydrocarbon and mineral wealth. On top of that, the region now is perhaps the most important node in the implementation of China’s One Belt, One Road initiative through which Beijing aims to get direct access to Western markets. Every week thousands of news appears in the world’s printed and online media and many of them may escape the attention of busy readers. At The Times of Central Asia, we strongly believe that more information can better contribute to peaceful development and better knowledge of this unique region. So we are presenting this Weekly Digest which compiles what other media have reported on Central Asia over the past week.

KAZAKHSTAN

‘How Can We Stay Silent?’ Kazakh Mother Mourns Daughter Killed After Joining Islamic State

About 800 Kazakh citizens have left their homeland to join IS militants in the Middle East since early 2014

Nov 11 — “The last time Gulzhan Imasheva saw her daughter, Gulbanu Asanova, was in May 2015, when Asanova was a teen secretly preparing to run away from her hometown in northwestern Kazakhstan and join Islamic State (IS) extremists abroad.” READ MORE: https://www.rferl.org/a/how-can-we-stay-silent-kazakh-mother-mourns-daughter-killed-after-joining-islamic-state/29594384.html

Swiss oil trader accused of profiting from ties to elites in Kazakhstan

Corruption in the government and the country’s elites remains a major hurdle to doing business in Kazakhstan

Nov 14 — “The NGO Public Eye has accused Vitol, the second largest company in Switzerland, of using a discreet joint venture to conceal links to powerful elites in Kazakhstan, helping the company win lucrative contracts in the country. Public Eye has called on the Swiss Federal Council to strengthen standards for transparency and due diligence in commodity trading.” READ MORE: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/vitol_swiss-oil-trader-accused-of-profiting-from-ties-to-elites-in-kazakhstan/44544454

India, Kazakhstan eye expanding trade turnover by 5 times

Kazakhstan and India cooperate in the areas of space, military-technical cooperation, IT, Fintech, oil and gas, and banking. Kazakhstan is also the main supplier of uranium to India

Nov 14 — “India and Central Asias biggest nation Kazakhstan on Wednesday desired to push their trade turnover to five billion usd from the current one billion usd taking advantage of favourable business climate in both countries. The Kazakh-Indian Investment Forum held in Delhi from 12 to 14 November was dedicated in expanding business ties across sectors.” READ MORE: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/foreign-trade/india-kazakhstan-eye-expanding-trade-turnover-by-5-times/articleshow/66621153.cms

Kazakhstan: The jihadis that never were?

Under the pretext of fighting terrorism and extremism, authorities in Kazakhstan are waging a war on opposition and dissent

Nov 16 — “Askhat Sharbat stood up in a Kazakh court earlier this month and admitted to a litany of grave offenses. He allowed his rented apartment to be used as an improvised studio for a video propagandizing terrorism. And then, last November, he distributed this footage through a popular messaging app. Sharbat even agreed he had expressed support for a political organization now banned by the government for purported extremism.” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/20501-kazakhstan-the-jihadis-that-never-were

KYRGYZSTAN

Kyrgyzstan: Why the agrarian country cannot provide itself with agricultural products

The situation in the Kyrgyz agrarian sector is difficult mainly due to the poor work of the Agriculture Ministry, lawmakers believe

Nov 11 — “Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Mukhammedkaly Abylgaziyev sharply criticized the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Industry and Land Reclamation at a recent Government meeting. Agriculture Minister Nurbek Murashev optimistically reported on the achievements in the sector. However, a good harvest was not due to the Ministry’s efforts, but due to favorable weather and hard work of farmers.” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/20478-kyrgyzstan-why-the-agrarian-country-cannot-provide-itself-with-agricultural-products

Kyrgyzstan survives on money made by migrant workers, but it doesn’t know how to spend it

No country in the world is as dependent on remittances from labor migrants as Kyrgyzstan. But this money is often used by families to survive, and allows the state to avoid its obligations to its citizens

Nov 12 — “Altynai, 24, doesn’t know what she will do if her parents stop sending money from Russia. She’ll be in a hopeless situation without those 20,000 soms (£220) a month — this money is her only way of surviving. For the past three years, Altynai (name changed) has been living with her grandmother, whose pension isn’t enough to buy anything.” READ MORE: https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/kyrgyzstan-survives-on-money-made-by-migrant-workers-but-it-doesn-t-know-how-to-spend-it

Farmers in Kyrgyzstan try to capitalize on global quinoa fad

Getting agricultural products to the international market remains a problem for Kyrgyz farmers

Nov 14 — “Step into a grocery store anywhere in Kyrgyzstan and ask for quinoa, chances are you will receive little more than blank stares. All the same, one farmer on the southern shores of Issyk-Kul lake has for the past few years been trying his hand at cultivating this most trendy of grains. Azamat Kaseyev, 44, got his first batch of quinoa seeds – the South American strains of Regalona and Titicaca – in 2012. The results have been impressive.” READ MORE: https://eurasianet.org/farmers-in-kyrgyzstan-try-to-capitalize-on-global-quinoa-fad

Exclusive interview with Sooronbai Jeenbekov. Part 2

Kyrgyzstan’s president reviews the first year of his presidency

Nov 16 — “The first anniversary of the presidency of Sooronbai Jeenbekov is approaching. By tradition, the first persons of the country sum up their work. Also, traditionally, the heads of our state preferred to sum up the results to government media. Sooronbai Jeenbekov broke with this tradition. He made an exception and gave his first interview as the president of the Kyrgyz Republic not to state-owned TV channels or government newspapers, but to an independent 24.kg news agency. The country’s leader also agreed to answer very personal questions.” READ MORE: https://24.kg/english/101467_Exclusive_interview_with_Sooronbai_Jeenbekov_Part_2/

TAJIKISTAN

Agroforestry saves soil and boosts livelihoods in Tajikistan

Soil degradation and climate change have adversely affected Tajikistan’s agriculture and smallholder farms

Nov 13 — “Mirzoli Azizov, a 54-year-old farmer, is sorting apples from the second harvest this year from his agroforestry gardens in this district 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. It’s still warm and sunny in early October in this mountainous part of Central Asia, which is enjoying a new bounty from what used to be a heavily degraded landscape.” READ MORE: https://news.mongabay.com/2018/11/agroforestry-saves-soil-and-boosts-livelihoods-in-tajikistan/

Families Get Official Silent Treatment Following Deadly Tajik Prison Riot

At least 50 inmates were reportedly killed, along with two guards, and numerous others injured in the riot that broke out at a Tajik prison on November 7

Nov 13 — “The bodies of inmates killed in a deadly riot in northern Tajikistan are being abruptly buried under the watchful eyes of police officers who — in some cases — don’t allow the families to identify the victims. “I begged them to let me lift the shroud to let me see my son’s face for the last time and at least make sure that this really is my son, not someone else,” says Ruqiya Ismoilova, who was informed that her 23-year-old son had been killed in the November 7 incident.” READ MORE: https://www.rferl.org/a/families-get-official-silent-treatment-following-deadly-tajik-prison-riot/29598805.html

Tajikistan launches giant dam to end power shortage

The start of the Rogun hydropower plant’s operation will help Tajikistan achieve energy independence and turn the country into an electricity exporter

Nov 16 — “Tajikistan on Friday inaugurates a $3.9 billion hydro-electric power plant, a mega project that will enable the impoverished country to eliminate domestic energy shortages and export electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Built on the Vakhsh River in southern Tajikistan, the plant championed by President Emomali Rahmon is expected to reach a height of 335 metres (1,099 feet) in a decade, becoming the world’s tallest hydro-electric dam.” READ MORE: https://phys.org/news/2018-11-tajikistan-giant-power-shortage.html

TURKMENISTAN

The Gas Man Cometh: In Turkmenistan, Free Energy No More

Only weeks are left before the energy-rich but economically challenged Turkmenistan will halt generous subsidies for natural gas, water, and electricity for its citizens

Nov 11 — “As Turkmenistan prepares to put an end to the era of free energy, authorities in the country’s capital are banging on doors to make sure citizens are prepared to pay. “They came multiple times, two people at a time. They knocked on the same doors several times over the course of two days and asked, ‘Have you installed a meter?'” one Ashgabat resident told RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service.” READ MORE: https://www.rferl.org/a/turkmen-energy-consumers-get-shock-treatment/29594173.html

Turkmenistan: Reading between the lines

In its ‘Akhal-Teke: A Turkmenistan Bulletin’, Eurasianet reviews the main news and events in the Central Asian country for the previous week

Nov 13 — “Turkmenistan is hitting the books. In the days of the late President Saparmurat Niyazov, who died in 2006, libraries were deemed something of an unneeded frippery. So much so that the erratic leader once ordered the closure of rural libraries, insisting that village folk had no interest in reading.” READ MORE: https://eurasianet.org/turkmenistan-reading-between-the-lines

Turkmenistan unexpectedly reduces the cost of TAPI construction from $10 to 7 billion

As Turkmenistan is experiencing a severe economic crisis, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, if completed, will bring in the much-needed hard-currency revenues for the gas-rich country

Nov 14 — “At the ADIPEC oil and gas conference, which is held in Abu-Dhabi from 12 to 15 November, Muhammetmyrat Amanov, chief executive officer of TAPI pipeline Company Ltd announced that the construction of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline (TAPI project) is now estimated at $7 billion, from an initial estimate of $10 billion” READ MORE: https://en.hronikatm.com/2018/11/turkmenistan-unexpectedly-reduces-the-cost-of-tapi-construction-from-10-to-7-billion/

UZBEKISTAN

Foreigners regret investing in Uzbekistan?

A study showed that the free economic zones did not become the locomotives of industrial development in Uzbekistan, as their share in the total industrial production is negligible

Nov 13 — “Most foreign investors regretted that they had invested in free economic zones (FEZ) of Uzbekistan, Spot.uz portal reported referring to the results of a study conducted by the Center for Development Strategy together with the Swiss Foundation PeaceNexus.” READ MORE: https://en.trend.az/business/economy/2979110.html

Major Reforms In The Energy Sector In Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan aims to modernize its electric power industry which is heavily dependent on burning coal and natural gas

Nov 14 — “To improve the organizational and legal framework of public administration in the electric power industry based on the experience of the leading countries, modern innovative ideas, developments and technologies, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed a new resolution “On the Accelerated Development and Provision of Financial Stability into Electricity Sector” (the Resolution). The Resolution approved the “Roadmap”, which provides for the realization of seven investment projects on the modernization of the existing and the creation of a new generating capacity of 1,984 MW until 2020.” READ MORE: http://www.mondaq.com/x/750718/Oil+Gas+Electricity/Major+Reforms+In+The+Energy+Sector+In+Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan steps up railway diplomacy

Uzbekistan aims to become a regional transport hub, and for this purpose, Tashkent has suggested several trans-Afghanistan railway projects

Nov 15 — “An official delegation from Uzbekistan, led by Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov, visited Pakistan on November 1–2. Kamilov and his retinue were received by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and held meetings with Foreign Minister Mahmood Qureshi as well as the host country’s top military brass. In the discussions with Pakistani officials, the Uzbekistani foreign minister proposed several ground-breaking initiatives, including a railroad connection between the two countries that would pass through Afghanistan” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/26-opinion-head/20496-uzbekistan-steps-up-railway-diplomacy

The superfast silk road in Uzbekistan

High-speed trains now link the capital Tashkent with the ancient cities of Samarkand and Bukhara in Uzbekistan, making traveling in the country much more easier and comfortable

Nov 16 — “Forget camel trains. My journey to see the delicate mosaics and shimmering domes of the Silk Road city of Samarkand was by high-speed train; it took just a couple of hours. At 200km/h, the clean streets and modern buildings of Tashkent, the capital, yielded to dusty desert punctuated by villages of squat houses and three-wheeled tractors. My seat was quiet and comfortable, the perfect spot to nod off after a seven-hour night flight from London.” READ MORE: https://www.ft.com/content/3e8d88b6-e746-11e8-8827-ff56e7163c11

AFGHANISTAN

Afghanistan’s Rivers Could Be India’s Next Weapon Against Pakistan

India is funding an ambitious dam near Kabul that could reduce water flow to its rival downstream, Pakistan

Nov 13 — “Most of Afghanistan is currently experiencing a 60 percent drop in the rain and snowfall needed for food production. The rapid expansion of Kabul’s population, extreme drought conditions across the country, and the specter of climate change have exacerbated the need for new water infrastructure. But building it is politically complicated; the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region is defined by its complex maze of transboundary rivers and there is no legal framework in place to avoid major conflict between the nations.” READ MORE: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/13/afghanistans-rivers-could-be-indias-next-weapon-against-pakistan-water-wars-hydropower-hydrodiplomacy/

Why victory isn’t the goal in Afghanistan

U.S. support has made the Afghan forces more effective than they were, but unable to stand up on their own

Nov 13 — “When Lt. Gen. David Petraeus returned from an inspection tour of Afghanistan in 2005 to brief then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, he began with a simple image. “The very first slide in the briefing that I gave to him was, ‘Afghanistan ≠ Iraq.’ And I then laid out to him the areas and issues in which you could compare and contrast the two countries and situations,” Petraeus recalled in an interview this month. “That comparison clearly established why, frankly, Afghanistan is a tougher nut to crack.” READ MORE: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/why-victory-isnt-the-goal-in-afghanistan

What game is Russia playing in Afghanistan?

Russia is seeking to re-assert itself in the southern part of Central Asia and Afghanistan in particular

Nov 14 — “Earlier this month, the Russian government hosted a much-awaited peace conference on Afghanistan, which was attended by representatives from the Taliban. After the event, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was photographed posing next to members of the Taliban leadership, who, paradoxically, are still on Russia’s terror list.” READ MORE: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/game-russia-playing-afghanistan-181113160715311.html

Russia’s peace conference on Afghanistan: What does it mean?

Russia tries to regain its influence in Afghanistan and thus strengthen its position in the Central Asia region, seeking to make the Taliban achieve peace with the Kabul government thus helping to eliminate the growing threat of Islamic State influence in the war-torn country

Nov 14 — “Last week (November 9), Russia finally convened its long-heralded peace conference on Afghanistan. Attending the conference were members of the Taliban as well as the governments of Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and China. A representative of the Embassy of the United States in Moscow also attended as an observer, as did members of the Afghan government’s Peace Council, but no member of the formal government in Kabul (Al Jazeera, November 9; TASS, November 12). The so-called “Moscow format consultations” are intended “to coordinate the development of an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue toward promoting the process of national reconciliation and the restoration of peace as soon as possible in the long-suffering Afghan state” READ MORE: https://timesca.com/index.php/news/20491-russia-s-peace-conference-on-afghanistan-what-does-it-mean

WORLD

China will ‘firmly reject’ diplomatic request to visit Uighur camps

Reports say that China is engaged in a major crackdown on the local ethnic Muslim minority in Xinjiang

Nov 15 — “China will “firmly reject” a request from a group of western diplomats seeking to visit a region reportedly suffering under widespread repression, a top diplomat said Thursday. “Certain Western diplomats claimed that they would go to Xinjiang for the so-called investigation on the human rights conditions there,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters. “This is above and beyond the duties of a diplomat and exceeds their mandate under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. So we will by no means allow them to do so.” READ MORE: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/china-will-firmly-reject-diplomatic-request-to-visit-uighur-camps

Are China’s cheap loans to poor nations a development boost or a debt trap?

China offers concessional loans for large-scale infrastructure projects, but if countries fail to pay them back, Beijing can start making demands

Nov 16 — “China is in the midst of a rapid push to gain economic and political ascendancy across the globe — and it is splashing out billions of dollars in concessional loans to developing countries in the process. This money is used to construct much-needed major infrastructure projects, but what happens when these poorer countries cannot pay China back?” READ MORE: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-16/are-china-cheap-loans-to-poor-nations-a-debt-trap/10493286

ASHGABAT (TCA) — On Sunday, November 18, the U.S. Embassy in Ashgabat will sponsor screenings of three critically-acclaimed independent documentary films, at Ashgabat Cinema, followed by a Q&A session with American film experts.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan’s President Sooronbai Jeenbekov has accused his predecessor Almazbek Atambayev of attempting to unduly influence him, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.

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DUSHANBE (TCA) — On November 16, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon set the first turbine of the Rogun hydroelectric dam in motion at a ceremony attended by thousands to mark the latest milestone in this ambitious $3.9-billion project involving Italian company Salini Impregilo to double the country’s energy production.

Rahmon pressed a red button to switch on the plant’s first of six planned turbines.

President Rahmon watched as the rotor of Unit 6 came to life in the dam’s power house in the presence of government officials and foreign dignitaries, including World Bank Vice President, Europe and Central Asia Cyril Muller, Italian Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Manlio Di Stefano and Salini Impregilo Chief Executive Pietro Salini.

Unit 6 is the first of six turbines being installed at the dam. With each having a capacity of 600 megawatts (MW), the total installed capacity will eventually be 3,600 MW, equal to three nuclear power plants. This huge capacity will make Rogun the most powerful hydroelectric dam in Central Asia.

A second turbine is expected to start producing electricity in 2019 in what is called early generation: putting into operation part of the dam before it is completed, Salini Impregilo said in a press release. The early start of the turbines will allow Tajikistan to cope with internal demand for electricity, especially during the winter months when thousands of families are in need light and heat. It will also be able to raise money from the sale of part of the electricity produced to neighbouring countries.

Commissioned by OJSC Rogun Hydropower Project, the state-run company that is coordinating the project, the rockfill dam with a loam core is being built by Salini Impregilo to become the tallest dam in the world at 335 metres. Salini Impregilo is doing the main civil works and related services. With the dam crest at an elevation of 1,300 meters above the sea level, Rogun will also become the world’s highest dam, breaking the record held by the Nurek Dam, also in Tajikistan.

Located in the upper reaches of the Vakhsh River in the Pamir Mountains, Rogun is about 90 kilometres from Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.

Dushanbe hopes the $3.9 billion project built on the Vakhsh river will not only make the country energy self-sufficient, but plans to export some of its output to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan, RFE/RL’s Tajik Service reported.

The project was launched in the late 1970s but halted after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.

Construction restarted in late October 2016, less than two months after the announced death of Islam Karimov, the long-term president of neighboring Uzbekistan. Karimov opposed the project, saying the dam would reduce water flows to Uzbekistan’s cotton fields.

Last year, Tajikistan raised $500 million from an inaugural international bond offering to help finance the construction, which is being carried out by an Italian company, Salini Impregilo.

Dushanbe hopes to generate money to finance further construction at the plant after its starts producing energy.

ALMATY (TCA) — Under the pretext of fighting terrorism and extremism, authorities in Kazakhstan are waging a war on opposition and dissent. We are republishing this article on the issue, written by Joanna Lillis, originally published by Eurasianet:

Askhat Sharbat stood up in a Kazakh court earlier this month and admitted to a litany of grave offenses.

He allowed his rented apartment to be used as an improvised studio for a video propagandizing terrorism. And then, last November, he distributed this footage through a popular messaging app. Sharbat even agreed he had expressed support for a political organization now banned by the government for purported extremism.

But Sharbat was not in the dock. He was a witness for the prosecution in the trial of three men accused of hatching a violent plot to overthrow 78-year-old President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Sharbat’s testimony, given in an Almaty court over several days this month, elicited howls of protest from the dock on November 8. The men on trial, Almat Zhumagulov, Kenzhebek Abishev and Oralbek Omyrov, deny the charges of propagandizing terrorism, which rest heavily on the footage distributed by Sharbat. What they cannot understand – and protested about in court – is why they, and not their accuser, are on trial.

Rights activists and commentators watching this peculiar case detect a familiar story of political repression and score-settling. It is not religious extremism that mostly appears to unnerve Kazakhstan’s government, but dissent.

The main item of evidence presented by the prosecution has been widely disseminated and credulously reported by local media. It looks almost like a parody.

The footage shows three men in white face masks standing in front of a black flag bearing a resemblance to the Islamic State standard. One figure uncertainly reads out a script, urging violent jihad against Kazakhstan. He is flanked by a pair holding fake AK-47 rifles.

The case of the prosecution is not that the people in the footage are Zhumagulov, Abishev and Omyrov. Those individuals have never been identified. The narrative being weaved by the prosecution is far more convoluted.

The trio now on trial say they barely knew one another when they were arrested. The one thing they did have in common, however, was involvement in an informal political discussion group called Alash. The group would gather in Almaty’s Mahatma Gandhi Park and discuss, among other things, their unhappiness with Nazarbayev’s rule. It was hardly underground plotting though. The meetings were broadcast live on Facebook.

“What united us was a striving for justice,” Mamet Kabylbekov, a 52-year-old electrician who used to attend, told Eurasianet. “We just raised social questions. We have concerns about what’s happening in the country. We want to live well, in a democratic country.”

The only defendant with a demonstrable link to the would-be jihadi video is Omyrov. In one cutaway sequence also released to the media, he is shown appearing to give stage directions to the masked men.

This has raised questions about Omyrov’s precise role in the drama. The other defendants’ supporters say they knew him only slightly – in Zhumagulov’s case – or not at all – in Abishev’s. They have even suggested he may have been a plant tasked with infiltrating their group.

Omyrov denies these allegations.

To link Omyrov’s walk-on part in the jihadi video to at least one of the other defendants, another piece of video evidence has been produced. This footage is filmed in the same apartment, purportedly on the same day, but this time there is no talk of violence and revolution. The shaky mobile phone clip pans from Zhumagulov to Omyrov and a group of other men as they sit on a sofa and pledge solidarity with an opposition group called Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, or DVK.

As to Abishev, he is not even in this video. He claims never to have stepped foot in the apartment shown and that he does not have a smartphone capable of making or viewing videos. He denies ever meeting Omyrov before their arrest.

To wrap him into the plot, it takes one more step. Prosecutors have presented wired conversations said to be between Zhumagulov and Abishev. In these exchanges, the pair allegedly discuss plans to set up terror cells, obtain funding and weapons and to target law enforcement officers for assault.

Zhumagulov and Abishev have not acknowledged it is their voices in the recordings. It is not clear who taped the conversations and with what authority.

With the chain of evidence seemingly so weak, Sharbat’s testimony feels crucial. He performed poorly on the witness stand, however, squirming under questioning from defense lawyers and defendants. He appeared to have forgotten so many basic details in his account that one exasperated attorney, Ainur Omarova, pleaded with the court to order a psychiatric assessment to determine his fitness to testify.

The judge denied the motion, as well as another request to have Sharbat take a lie-detector test.

Skeptics of the state’s case see this as yet another in a long list of criminal prosecutions designed to target people linked to DVK, the banned group created by exiled opposition figure and disgraced banker Mukhtar Ablyazov – a man despised by President Nazarbayev.

Zhumagulov has made no secret of his support for DVK, which was not a crime until the movement was dubbed extremist in March – three months after his arrest. His Facebook profile displayed the DVK logo, bearing the slogan: “The time has come for change!”

Abishev has expressed sympathy for some of Ablyazov’s ideas, but his dalliance with politics has been expressed primarily through symbolism-heavy poetry. His work has included an allegorical piece containing a Jungle Book-like cast of characters that describes the demise of a personality cult devoted to a lion presumed to be an allusion to Nazarbayev.

The authorities deny they pursue politically motivated prosecutions. Rights campaigners aren’t buying it.

Veteran activist Yevgeniy Zhovtis has characterized this trial of Zhumagulov, Abishev and Omyrov – who face up to 12 years in jail – as “a selective approach against dissidents under the noisy name of fighting terrorism and extremism.”

In his testimony to the court, Ryspek Sarsenbay, an opposition activist who has attended Alash discussions, also identified politics as the impetus for the trial.

“These guys have become sacrifices in the never-ending battle between the president and the fugitive banker, even though they have nothing to do with Ablyazov and even though they haven’t taken any money from him and haven’t carried out any orders from him,” he told the court.

A report published on November 5 by the Poland-based Open Dialogue Foundation bolsters accusations that Kazakhstan is waging war on dissidents. Between March and October, the report found, over 30 people were targeted with legal measures for posting criticism on social media.

Confirming this picture involves just a short walk for the few reporters following the case of Zhumagulov, Abishev and Omyrov. In the very same court building, just down the corridor, another man, Aset Abishev – no relation to Kenzhebek Abishev – is on trial on charges of being a member and financial supporter of DVK.

In that courtroom, prosecutors are making little secret of where the problem lies.

Abishev, the prosecutor argued in court on November 14, “illegally and deliberately published and posted DVK material on his Facebook page, discrediting the head of state, members of his family and the ruling power of the Republic of Kazakhstan.”

ASTANA (TCA) — On November 15, the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Peter Pellegrini arrived in Kazakhstan with the first official visit. President Nursultan Nazarbayev received Pellegrini, and a working meeting of the Prime Ministers of the two countries was also held, which followed by a Kazakh-Slovak business forum, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.

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