Kazakhstan has opened a criminal case against participants in a protest during which they burned the flag of China and a portrait of Xi Jinping – they are charged with inciting hatred. The protesters support the unregistered party “Atazhurt,” which raises the issue of oppression of Turkic-speaking peoples in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.
The protest took place in mid-November along a road in the Almaty region. Its participants demanded the repatriation to Kazakhstan of Alimnur Turganbay – an ethnic Kazakh who was detained in July 2025 in China.
Immediately after the protest, 12 people were arrested for 7 to 15 days in an administrative case of petty hooliganism; another six were fined.
Later it became known that a criminal case had been opened against them for inciting hatred. At the request of the investigation, on November 21 the court remanded 13 people to the pre-trial detention center until November 30; another five will remain under house arrest.
Lawyer Shinkuat Bayzhanov, who defends the rights of five of the 18 suspects, said that the court session to select a preventive measure took place at night. There were no interrogations, he said. Bayzhanov believes that there is no criminal act in the actions of those detained.
Alimnur Turganbay is a native of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous District of Xinjiang; he moved with his family to Kazakhstan in 2016. A year later, he, his wife, and three daughters obtained Kazakhstan citizenship. In July 2025 he went to China for work: he planned to obtain goods and bring them to Kazakhstan by truck, but was detained.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, citing diplomatic correspondence with the Chinese authorities, said that Turganbay holds Chinese citizenship. The detainee’s family claims that he renounced Chinese citizenship after obtaining a Kazakh passport.
Context of the events and possible consequences
The events highlight questions about the legal consequences of such actions and regulatory approaches to citizenship and political views in the context of Kazakhstan’s relations with China.
SOURCE:
Website «Mezha»
