Overview
- Following Monday’s verdict, a Taldykorgan court found 19 Nagyz Atajurt activists guilty of “inciting discord,” issuing multiple five-year prison terms, non-custodial “restricted freedom” sentences for others, and three-year bans on political activity.
- The case stems from a November 2025 protest that burned Chinese flags and a portrait of Xi Jinping and demanded the release of Alimnur Turganbay, a Kazakh citizen held in Xinjiang since July 2025.
- Reporting links the criminal case to a diplomatic complaint from Beijing after the Chinese consulate in Almaty urged authorities to “take appropriate measures” the day after the rally.
- The trial ran under tight limits, with journalists barred from the courtroom and allowed to watch only by live video from an adjacent room.
- Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned the verdicts and the use of the vague Article 174 offense, warning the mass jailing will chill Xinjiang-related activism in Kazakhstan.