STATEMENT By the Coalition “Kazakhstan – OSCE 2010”
9 september 2009
The Coalition “Kazakhstan – OSCE 2010,” which unites the leading human rights organizations of Kazakhstan, states that the sentence imposed on September 3 by the Balkhashskii Regional Court in the case of Yevgeniy Zhovtis represents a stark miscarriage of justice.
The serious violations of Mr. Zhovtis’ right to a defense, the criminal shuffling of the investigative materials, the lack of objectivity in the experts’ conclusions, the numerous violations of criminal procedural law during the investigation and trial, and the obvious lack of proportionality between the alleged guilt and the punishment all give us grounds to believe that this sentence represents the carrying out of a political order by those in power in order to deal with an authoritative critic.
The lawyers defending Yevgeniy Zhovtis, will, of course, file an appeal and present proofs of all the violations that have taken place in this case. Nevertheless, in the sad case that the real goal of this trial really was in fact to put a critic of the authorities behind bars, the defense’s arguments will be ignored, just as they were during the initial trial.
We believe that if the conviction of the Director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, which is a clear miscarriage of justice, is confirmed this will represent a sentence against democracy and the civil rights of all Kazakhstanis. It will mark the end of society’s last hopes for the rule of law and justice.
Not only the fate of Yevgeniy Zhovtis, but the authority of the entire judicial system, the authority of the ruling elite in society, and the authority of Kazakhstan in the international arena now depend on the swift and principled action of the leaders of the country to void the court’s verdict.
We demand all legal measures be taken immediately to free Yevgeniy Zhovtis, void his unjust conviction and openly review his case in a manner that observes all legal norms providing defendants with the right to a defense.
The serious violations of Mr. Zhovtis’ right to a defense, the criminal shuffling of the investigative materials, the lack of objectivity in the experts’ conclusions, the numerous violations of criminal procedural law during the investigation and trial, and the obvious lack of proportionality between the alleged guilt and the punishment all give us grounds to believe that this sentence represents the carrying out of a political order by those in power in order to deal with an authoritative critic.
The lawyers defending Yevgeniy Zhovtis, will, of course, file an appeal and present proofs of all the violations that have taken place in this case. Nevertheless, in the sad case that the real goal of this trial really was in fact to put a critic of the authorities behind bars, the defense’s arguments will be ignored, just as they were during the initial trial.
We believe that if the conviction of the Director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, which is a clear miscarriage of justice, is confirmed this will represent a sentence against democracy and the civil rights of all Kazakhstanis. It will mark the end of society’s last hopes for the rule of law and justice.
Not only the fate of Yevgeniy Zhovtis, but the authority of the entire judicial system, the authority of the ruling elite in society, and the authority of Kazakhstan in the international arena now depend on the swift and principled action of the leaders of the country to void the court’s verdict.
We demand all legal measures be taken immediately to free Yevgeniy Zhovtis, void his unjust conviction and openly review his case in a manner that observes all legal norms providing defendants with the right to a defense.
