Mr Galym Ageleuov

Mr Galym Ageleuov was sentenced to fifteen days of administrative arrest on 2 June 2012. He is currently detained in the Special Ward for Persons under Administrative Arrest of the Department of Internal Affairs in Almaty.

Galym Ageleuov, Director of the human rights organisation Liberty, was closely following the court proceedings on the events that occurred in the town of Zhanaozen on 16 December 2011, when a demonstration of oil company workers was repressed by police, resulting in the death of 14 people and 64 people receiving gunshot wounds. Galym Ageleuov met with victims, organised and participated in a press conference on the case and provided information on the court proceedings using social media.

On 2 June 2012, at 12pm, approximately thirty people gathered near the monument of Abay, a prominent Kazakh poet, in the city of Almaty. The meeting was considered as the fifth gathering of the “Not-Agreed” movement, which protests against human rights violations and the lack of democracy in Kazakhstan. Although the event was not widely publicised, journalists and police were in attendance. Galym Ageleuov was asked to speak during the meeting and delivered a speech on violations in the court proceedings of the Zhanaozen case and on the reported torture of detainees.

Towards the end of the meeting, the police warned the participants that the meeting was unsanctioned and that they needed to disperse. On his way home, Galym Ageleuov was arrested, taken to his home to gather clothes, and then transported to the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty. The Court sentenced the defender to fifteen days of administrative arrest under Article 373.3 of the Administration Violation Code for participation in an unsanctioned demonstration.

Front Line Defenders expresses concern at the arrest, detention and sentencing of Galym Ageleuov for attending a peaceful gathering of pro-democracy and human rights activists, and believes that these actions are directly motivated by his legitimate human rights work in Kazakhstan, particularly his documentation of the Zhanaozen case.