Translation of Klavdia Razina‘s post (RUS).

For the previous two posts in the series, click here and here.

Rosa Akylbekova:
I am in complete accord with Ms. Yesergepova on the point that the agency has been recently preoccupied with the fate of its director, who was unjustly sentenced. It is perfectly normal. As for your husband – if you remember, when Zhovtis was on trial, we sent Andrei Sviridov. However, this is not important right now.

I would like to comment on the overall situation in Kazakhstan. In reality, after 20 October… Those who were in Almaty and at the Zhovtis trial understand why our civil society is so weak. The government has gone to great lengths to intimidate the small number of human rights organizations who showed any kind of resistance. Even when we were distributing our newsletters and scheduling transportation for supporters, we sensed that our civil society was frightened.

If a man like Zhovtis gets put in jail unjustly… Everyone saw there was no fair, objective trial. It was a mockery of the law and the court did not accept any of his arguments. No wonder people didn’t show up. I’m not talking about just ordinary citizens, but an active civil society – that is, representatives of human rights organizations.

The same people as usual were in attendance – Fokina, Turmagambetova, Kaleeva. Human rights activist came from Kyrgyzstan and other countries. Unfortunately, residents of Almaty, who were closest to the site, and for whom we provided buses and automobiles, did not show up. It speaks to the level of intimidation in our society. Obviously, our bureau cannot cover all the bases. With our partners, we number just over forty.