A court in Almaty has sentenced activist Aizhan Mameshova to restriction of freedom, applying an amnesty and banning her from engaging in public activities for five years, infohub.kz reports with reference to KazTAG.
"A guilty verdict was handed down, which we absolutely do not understand. We will definitely appeal. But I believe this is one of the attempts to force society into a different format at any cost – to prohibit people from criticizing the authorities or those in power. I see no other message here. The judge imposed a sentence of two years' restriction of freedom and a five-year ban on public activities, while applying amnesty and releasing her from the main punishment, leaving only the ban on public activities for five years after the sentence comes into force. The house arrest measure was lifted; until the sentence takes legal effect, she will remain under a written undertaking not to leave the city. In court, we submitted a pile of documents showing that the facts (stated by Mameshova) were confirmed. But no. And the expert examination was conducted with violations. What infuriates me here is that when judges legitimize the unlawfulness of investigators, we slide into anarchy, we destroy the very meaning of law and order that the president has proclaimed. I am extremely outraged," commented lawyer Galym Nurpeisov to KazTAG.
The prosecutor had asked for a sentence of one year of restriction of freedom with a ban on public activities. In January, KazTAG reported that the Medeu District Court had begun hearing the criminal case against activist Aizhan Mameshova on charges of knowingly spreading false information after she made public the situation of children at an orphanage in Almaty. Human rights activists had earlier demanded the termination of the criminal prosecution of Mameshova, stating that the information she had disclosed was supported by documents.