Today marks Aqylbek Muratbay’s birthday, which he unfortunately spends in unlawful detention at Almaty’s pre-trial detention center number 18, Kazakhstan. Aqylbek has been detained until February 15, 2025, while Kazakh authorities consider his asylum application. Muratbay’s arrest was based on an extradition request by Uzbekistan, which has fabricated charges against him due to his human rights activism.
Muratbay faces charges under Articles 244, part 2, paragraph “b” and 244-1, part 2, paragraph “g” of the Uzbekistan Criminal Code. These charges pertain to public calls for mass riots and violence and the dissemination of materials containing extremist ideas and threats to public safety. Specifically, the charges of “public calls for mass unrest and violence” are related to a memorial online event held on November 13, 2023, to honor 500 days since the July 2022 events in Nukus. During the memorial, participants turned off the lights for 16 minutes, symbolizing the prison sentence of human rights activist Dauletmurat Tajimuratov.
The charges for “production or demonstration of materials containing a threat to public safety” stem from Muratbay publishing a video of Karakalpak activist Koshkarbay Toremuratov’s speech at an OSCE conference in October 2023. Muratbay, a blogger and human rights defender, has long advocated for justice for the Karakalpak people and has faced relentless persecution from Uzbek authorities. Last year, an Uzbek diplomat advised him at the Uzbek consulate in Almaty to “soften the tone” of his statements concerning Karakalpakstan following the protests in 2022 against the revocation of its sovereign status by Uzbek authorities, which resulted in a violent crackdown on peaceful protesters.
In light of his unlawful detention and the fabricated charges against him, Freedom for Eurasia urges international organizations and the governments of democratic countries to support Aqylbek’s cause.
