Civic activist Kural Seitkhanuly sentenced to three years in prison

On 8 September, a court in Turkestan sentenced activist and representative of the S-INFORM newspaper Kural Seitkhanuly Ismanov to three years in prison. Journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov reported the verdict.

Seitkhanuly was detained in May this year following a complaint filed by blogger Lyazzat Asanova. She accused him of disseminating information relating to her personal data.

Amangeldy Batyrbekov maintains that the information published by the activist was not confidential and had previously been posted on social media.

Lyazzat Asanova, for her part, said after the verdict was announced that the case concerned the protection of a person’s right to privacy and personal data. In her view, disseminating such information without the person’s consent cannot be regarded simply as a social media publication.

Kural Seitkhanuly has spoken out on socio-political issues for many years. In 2024, he served as an observer during the referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Turkestan. After the vote, the activist reported alleged violations at one polling station and filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office.

Representatives of the election commission, in turn, stated that the incident he described involving alleged “carousel voting” had not been officially recorded.