Kazakhstan:

Socialist wins court battle

LAST WEEK the Alma-Ata city Procurer (legal prosecutor), Kazakhstan, demanded the arrest and imprisonment, for 15 days, of Ainur Kurmanov, a well-known CWI member and opposition socialist activist in Kazakhstan.

This follows a recent court case when Ainur was fined for taking part in mass protests against the destruction of shanty towns near Alma-Ata to make way for 'entertainment complexes' and luxury flats.

The police and prosecutor cried Ainur's sentence was too 'light'. The procurer had the right to appeal. But at a court hearing, on Monday 23 April, the judge rejected the procurer's appeal.

Ainur sent the following:

Thanks for your support comrades!

The appeal by the procurer against the earlier fine issued to me took place in the Alma-Ata City Court today [23 April].

About 30 people, mainly from the different residents' action groups were in court to support us. In addition, there were eight journalists and human rights activists.

For an hour, we presented evidence to show the procurer's demands were unfounded and several witnesses gave evidence in our support. At the end, the judge rejected the appeal by the procurer and left the previous fine standing. We intend to appeal against the fine.

This is a victory. This is the first time the city courts have rejected the request of the procurer when dealing with protest actions.

A large role in this victory was played by the rapid response of our international comrades and by the attention from the mass media. In particular, we thank the England and Wales, Irish, Belgian, Australian, Scottish and German comrades, and, of course, Joe Higgins [Socialist Party TD, Ireland].