The court of appeal has upheld the arrest of Lukpan Akhmedyarov

Last night, Judge Gulnara Minius of the Ural Regional Court rejected journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov's appeal, meaning he will serve the full 15 days of his administrative arrest.

As it was reported, on April 12, the specialized court for administrative offenses in Uralsk found Akhmedyarov guilty of organizing an unauthorized rally. The journalist strongly denied the accusation, stating that he did not organize any rally. He had only attended Manshuk Mametova Square to confirm that the event was taking place, which local authorities had used as a reason to deny him permission to hold a rally. Lukpan had simply given a brief speech there with the organizer's permission.

During the appeal hearings, Bolatbek Sakhiev, the head of the Gasyr NGO, which organized the event and allowed Lukpan to speak, as well as Yerbol Kushekov, the head of the internal policy department who denied Akhmedyarov permission for a peaceful rally, were thoroughly questioned. Additionally, at the insistence of Lukpan's lawyer, Mereke Gabdualiyev, the court reviewed a video that proved Akhmedyarov's non-participation in and non-organization of an unauthorized rally.
However, the judge deemed these arguments to be unfounded and dismissed the appeal.