Secrecy surrounds
Kazakhstan’s criminal trials of members of Muslim missionary movement Tabligh
Jamaat. Mamurzhan Turashov was given a three-year prison term on 2 December,
but neither the court, the prosecutor, the Judicial Expertise Institute which
conducted “expert analyses” of religious books seized from him, nor
his defence lawyer were willing to make the verdict public. All were also
unwilling to tell Forum 18 News Service what Turashov had done wrong, apart
from Tabligh Jamaat membership. A similar criminal trial began in Taldykurgan
on 9 December of five apparent Tabligh Jamaat adherents, and 20 suspected
Tabligh Jamaat adherents were detained in Almaty in late November. Officials
have refused to discuss any aspect of the cases with Forum 18. Tabligh Jamaat
was banned in February 2013, even though the KNB secret police admitted that
Tabligh Jamaat literature did not have “extremist, terrorist, or any other
calls against Kazakhstan’s laws”. However, the KNB claimed that “all
their activity could be characterised as subversive in the ideological sphere,
forming in the population anti-social or anti-civil positions”.
Secrecy surrounds the
criminal trials of members of the Muslim missionary movement Tabligh Jamaat,
which was banned as “extremist” in Kazakhstan in 2013. Mamurzhan
Turashov, a 41-year-old father of five, was given a three-year prison term on 2
December in South Kazakhstan Region. But neither the court, the prosecutor, the
Judicial Expertise Institute which conducted “expert analyses” of
religious books seized from him, nor even his defence lawyer were willing to
make public the verdict or the “expert analyses”. All were also
unwilling to tell Forum 18 News Service what Turashov had done wrong, apart
from Tabligh Jamaat membership.
A similar criminal trial
began in Taldykurgan in Almaty Region on 9 December of five apparent Tabligh
Jamaat adherents – Bakyt Nurmanbetov, Aykhan Kurmangaliyev, Sagyndyk Tatubayev,
Kairat Esmukhambetov and Ruslan Kairanov. Neither prosecutors nor the judge
hearing the case, nor other court officials, were prepared to say anything
about it to Forum 18 apart from acknowledging that the trial was underway.
Turashov and the five
defendants in Taldykurgan were prosecuted under Criminal Code Article 337-1.
This punishes “Organising or participating in the activity of a social or
religious association or other organisation after a court decision banning
their activity or their liquidation in connection with extremism or terrorism
they have carried out”. Punishment is a fine or imprisonment of up to six
years. From 1 January 2015 Article 337-1 will be replaced by an almost
identical Article 405, as part of a change to a new Criminal Code (see F18News
9 July 2014 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1976).
Police announced through the
local media on 26 November that 20 suspected Tabligh Jamaat adherents had been
detained in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s commercial capital. However, no information
was given about their names, whether they are still in detention, or whether any
or all will face administrative or criminal prosecution.
Breaking international law
Kazakhstan insists that
religious communities can only exist or function if they have the state’s
permission, in defiance of its international human rights obligations. This has
a strong impact on Muslims. The government has allowed only one Muslim
religious community in all of Kazakhstan to gain state registration: the
state-backed Muslim Board. Only mosque communities under its control are
allowed to function, even though nowhere in the country’s published law is this
stated.
All other Muslim communities
and organisations – including Tabligh Jamaat, Ahmadi Muslim congregations,
independent mosques (such as the Tatar-Bashkir mosque in Petropavl), and
mosques catering to specific ethnic communities (such as Azerbaijanis,
Chechens, or Uighurs) – are banned from exercising their right to freedom of
religion or belief (see Forum 18’s religious freedom survey of Kazakhstan
http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1939).
Three-year sentence – for what?
Turashov, from the village
of Karabulak in Sairam District of South Kazakhstan Region, was accused of
distributing religious literature that had not been censored by the state at a
mosque or prayer room he had built in his village, as well as membership of
Tabligh Jamaat knowing it had been banned. Pictures on local TVK television
channel of what must have been a police raid showed copies of two
Russian-language Muslim books, Gardens of the Righteous and Attainment of the Objective
According to Evidences of the Ordinances by al-Hafidh ibn Hajar al-Asqalani.
Very strict state censorship
of all religious literature and the places it can be distributed is imposed in
Kazakhstan. All Islamic literature that is not Sunni Hanafi is banned (see
Forum 18’s religious freedom survey of Kazakhstan
http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1939).
Press reports said the
Sairam District Akim (administration head) had given Turashov’s wife Zeynolla
Shakirova a plot of land in 2009 to build a mosque or prayer room. Turashov led
prayers for villagers once it was built. Reports claimed that the local police
officer had officially warned him that Tabligh Jamaat was banned, with criminal
penalties for members of it.
On 27 November, Timeskz news
website, quoting the prosecution, cited alleged rumours that Turashov (who was
not named in the article) had begun calling in his mosque for the “mass
Islamisation of Kazakhstan” and the “creation of a caliphate”
(an Islamic-ruled political entity) following his return from a six-week visit
to Bangladesh in early 2014. “The information was of interest to the
special services [the KNB secret police],” the website claimed. “The
rumours were confirmed.” It said “expert analyses” of Turashov’s
sermons had confirmed this.
The Department for the
Struggle with Economic Crime and Corruption opened a case against Turashov
under Criminal Code Article 337-1, Part 1, which bans the creation or
leadership of a banned group. The case was then handed to Sairam District
Police, where it was investigated by Captain Talat Dauletbashov. Orynbasar
Sengirbayev of the District Prosecutor’s Office led the case in court.
After an initial hearing on
25 November, Judge Talgat Ongarbayev of Sairam District Court handed down the
guilty verdict on 2 December, the Court Chancellery told Forum 18 on 8
December. Turashov was given a three-year ordinary regime labour camp sentence.
The Chancellery official – who would not give his name – said Turashov has not appealed
against the sentence, and is still being held in the Investigation Prison in
the regional capital Shymkent.
The Chancellery official
said about 400 books had been confiscated from Turashov. “The expert
analyses found they were propaganda for Tabligh Jamaat,” he insisted to
Forum 18. “They called for war against civilians who don’t pray or go to
mosque and against kafirs [unbelievers].” Asked for examples, the official
then admitted he had not read the verdict.
Forum 18 repeatedly asked
the official to send a copy of the verdict, but had not received it by the late
afternoon in Kazakhstan of 12 December. The official refused to put Forum 18
through to Judge Ongarbayev.
Judge Ongarbayev told the
local TVK television channel on 3 December that a criminal case had originally
been opened against a second person, whom he did not name. But this had been
closed at the investigation stage and that only Turashov had been brought to
trial.
The deputy head of the South
Kazakhstan Regional Justice Department’s Institute of Judicial Expertise in
Shymkent, which had conducted the “expert analyses” in Turashov’s
case, said he could give no information about them. “Only the person who
commissioned the analyses can speak about them, according to the law,” the
deputy head – who refused to give his name – told Forum 18 from Shymkent on 11
December. He also refused to say how often his Institute conducts “expert
analyses” of religious texts or recordings.
Bakyt Akhimbetov, deputy
head of the Regional Religious Affairs Department, told Forum 18 on 9 December
that he had no information about the case against Turashov. He stressed that
his Department has had no involvement in “expert analyses” since the
Department was subordinated not to the former Agency of Religious Affairs but
to the Regional Administration. He could not recall any disputes over
Turashov’s mosque in Karabulak.
“Acknowledged his guilt completely”?
Turashov’s lawyer was
Zhaksybek Rysbekov, though Forum 18 has been unable to establish if he was
appointed by the court or by Turashov. Rysbekov told Forum 18 on 10 December
that his client had “acknowledged his guilt completely” in court that
he was knowingly a member of Tabligh Jamaat which had been banned through the
courts.
Asked whether claims in the
media that Turashov had called for the “Islamisation of Kazakhstan”
and the “establishment of a caliphate” were true or not, Rysbekov did
not respond. Nor would he respond to a direct question as to whether his client
had or had not advocated violence. He also refused to say whether Turashov is
or is not a dangerous person.
But Rysbekov insisted that
the criminal case had been thoroughly investigated. “The case files came
to two or three volumes,” he told Forum 18. He said this included up to
ten “expert analyses” conducted by the South Kazakhstan Regional
Justice Department’s Institute of Judicial Expertise in Shymkent. He would not
say if the analyses were only of books confiscated from Turashov or also of
recordings of his sermons or addresses in the mosque.
“There are also organs
that watched Turashov, and not all information was given in court,”
Rysbekov added. Asked which “organs” he meant and whether he was
referring to the KNB secret police, he responded: “I don’t know.” Asked
why not all the alleged evidence had been presented in court, Rysbekov did not
respond.
Rysbekov dismissed any
concerns about the prison term. “Turashov has not instructed me to lodge
an appeal,” he told Forum 18. “He got a three-year term, but will be
out no doubt after a year.”
Prosecutor refuses to answer questions
Forum 18 was unable to reach
police Captain Dauletbashov who investigated the case and was present in court
during the trial. His phones repeatedly went unanswered on 11 December, as did
that of Sairam District Police Investigation Department.
Deputy Prosecutor
Sengirbayev, who led the prosecution case in court, refused to answer any of
Forum 18’s questions on the case. “I don’t have the documents to hand, and
besides they are all in Kazakh,” he told Forum 18 on 9 December. Called on
10 and 11 December, he repeatedly refused to say whether Turashov had called
for violence in his sermons or whether any of the books confiscated from him
incited violence.
Taldykurgan trial
At least two of the five
apparent Tabligh Jamaat adherents now on trial in Taldykurgan in Almaty Region
– Nurmanbetov, Kurmangaliyev, Tatubayev, Esmukhambetov and Kairanov – were
arrested and held in court-ordered pre-trial detention since September.
Megdat Kabdylkairov, head of
the Department for Ensuring Legality in the Sphere of Countering Extremism and
Terrorism of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office, announced on its website on 24
September that the arrest of two “active” Tabligh Jamaat members –
who remained unnamed – had prevented “illegal activity”. He described
Tabligh Jamaat as a “dangerous organisation”.
Kabdylkairov noted that a
case had been opened against the two under Criminal Code Article 337-1, Part 2,
which punishes participation in a banned organisation.
Kabdylkairov refused to
answer any questions on the case. “I’m on holiday and can’t give any
commentary,” he told Forum 18 on 10 December, the day after the first
court hearing. He referred Forum 18 to his colleagues in the Department.
Reached the same day, one of his colleagues, who gave his name only as Dastan,
said the case was now in Taldykurgan City Court and refused to discuss it
further.
The case against the five
reached the court on 25 November, and was assigned to Judge Sara Zhanbyrbayeva.
The first hearing in the case was held on the morning of 9 December, according
to court records. The Judge’s assistant confirmed to Forum 18 on 11 December
that all five defendants are being prosecuted under Criminal Code Article
337-1, Part 2. He declined to say when the case is due to resume or give any
other information. Judge Zhanbyrbayeva confirmed to Forum 18 the same day that
the trial is continuing, but she too refused to discuss the case.
Forum 18 has been unable to
identify the investigator in the case or the men’s lawyer or lawyers.
20 still detained or now free?
In the third known current
Tabligh Jamaat-related case, Forum 18 has been unable to find out if the 20
alleged members held in the southern city of Almaty in late November have been
freed or remain in detention. It is also unclear whether any or all will face administrative
or criminal prosecutions.
Saltanat Azyrbek, acting
head of Almaty Police Press Service, totally refused to give Forum 18 any
information by telephone on 11 December, insisting that questions must be in
writing. Forum 18 had not received any response to its written questions by
late afternoon in Almaty of 12 December.
Tabligh Jamaat banned as
“extremist” in February 2013
Tabligh Jamaat was founded
in British India in 1927 to encourage greater piety among Muslims. It has
always claimed to avoid violence and political activity. In Central Asia its
members conduct house to house encouragement of Muslims to attend mosques and
religious talks. The movement also sends members on short-term missions to
other towns and villages, where they sleep in mosques and address local
Muslims, both door to door and in the mosque. Male adherents are often
identifiable by their beards and South Asian clothing. A close observer of
Tabligh Jamaat in the region told Forum 18 that adherents in Kazakhstan follow
this approach.
In addition to mission trips
within the country, adherents from Central Asia often visit Tabligh Jamaat
centres in Pakistan (though obtaining visas is now difficult), India and
Bangladesh.
Tabligh Jamaat members –
like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Council of Churches Baptists – have long been
subjected to administrative fines in Kazakhstan for preaching their faith
without personal registration as missionaries (see eg. F18News 21 May 2014
http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1960).
The movement is also banned
in some other former Soviet states as officials claimed it was
“extremist”, normally without defining exactly what this means. The
first ban was by the Supreme Court in Tajikistan in March 2006 (see F18News 15
May 2009 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1297). This was followed
by Russia, where the Supreme Court banned it as “extremist” in May
2009 (see Forum 18’s Russia “extremism” religious freedom survey
http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1724). Uzbekistan’s Interior
Ministry told Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry in March 2012 that Tabligh Jamaat
had also been banned there. (All public manifestations of Islam outside the
state-controlled Spiritual Administration of Muslims is banned – see Forum 18’s
Uzbekistan religious freedom survey
http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1862). Kyrgyzstan’s Security
Council recommended in 2009 that the Supreme Court consider banning Tabligh
Jamaat, though this has not happened (see F18News 27 February 2014
http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1932).
No prior public announcement, no evidence
On 26 February 2013 in
Kazakhstan, without prior public announcement, Judge Kuanish Zhaksybergenov of
Astana’s Saryarka District Court granted Astana City Prosecutor’s Office suit
to have Tabligh Jamaat banned throughout Kazakhstan as “extremist”,
according to the decision seen by Forum 18. The prosecutor claimed – without
making any evidence public – that the group’s “real aim” was the
seizure of territory and creation on it of a caliphate, “including in
Kazakhstan”, which “presumes a violent change to the constitutional
order”. The ban was backed in court by the KNB secret police and the
Interior Ministry. The government’s then Agency of Religious Affairs was happy
to leave the decision to the Court.
The decision cites no
violence or other human rights violations conducted by any named or unnamed
Tabligh Jamaat adherents in Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan or any other
country. Nor does it cite any named or unnamed adherents in these countries
making any specific incitement to violence.
Judge Zhaksybergenov’s
decision gives prominence to the bans in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Russia. It
also states that Tabligh Jamaat has acted illegally in Kazakhstan because it
does not have state registration and notes the numerous administrative
punishments handed down to adherents (20 in the first half of 2012).
During the 40-minute
hearing, according to the official record seen by Forum 18, Interior Ministry
official Darkhan Razuyev noted that one Tabligh Jamaat stronghold in Kazakhstan
was in the village of Masanchi in Jambyl Region, which is mainly populated by
Dungans (members of a traditionally Muslim ethnicity of Chinese origin). He
feared that “attracting a large number of this ethnic group into the ranks
of this non-traditional religious movement could in future lead to a
complication of the religious situation, the active distribution of extremist
and separatist ideology, and, as a result, a threat to the national security of
the country”. He gave no evidence for his fears.
All ethnic-based and other
independent mosques have been forcibly closed by the state (see Forum 18’s
religious freedom survey of Kazakhstan http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1939).
Those who do discuss the issue of ethnic-based mosques indicate very strongly
that they are fearful of state reactions (see eg. F18News 4 November 2010
http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=1506).
Razuyev of the Interior
Ministry claimed to the court that many Tabligh Jamaat members had been
punished with administrative fines. These included one punishment under
Administrative Code Article 344, Part 4, which punishes: “Production,
storage, import, transport and distribution” of non-media publications
containing “propaganda or agitation for a violent change to the
constitutional order, violation of Kazakhstan’s territorial integrity,
subversion of state security, war or the incitement of social, racial, ethnic,
religious, class or clan discord, the cult of brutality, violence and
pornography”. Punishments range between fines of 50 to 200 Monthly
Financial Indicators (MFIs) or up to 15 days’ imprisonment. In that case, the
court in Jambyl Region in 2012 handed down a fine of 2 MFIs. Razuyev did not
identify the books and discs alleged to be “extremist”.
Administrative Code Article
344, Part 4 has recently been used to sentence two Baptists to 10-day prison
terms for having an allegedly “extremist” book (see F18News 10
October 2014 http://www.forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2005).
The other cases Razuyev of
the Interior Ministry claimed to the court were associated with Tabligh Jamaat
members were: 28 people punished in 2011 for distributing uncensored religious
literature; 60 cases in 2012 of people conducting missionary activity without
personal registration as a missionary, after which about 400 people were
detained with many subsequent fines; some individuals not living at their
registered address; and four foreign nationals violating unspecified rules for
foreigners living in Kazakhstan, presumably as they exercised their freedom of
religion or belief without state permission.
No “extremist, terrorist, or any other calls against Kazakhstan’s
laws”
Agency of Religious Affairs
official Erkinbek Shokhayev alleged that Tabligh Jamaat conducted terrorist
activity but gave no evidence for his claim. KNB secret police official Igor
Bisimbayev claimed that the existence of a Muslim organisation, conducting its
own missionary activity, as a rival to the state-backed Muslim Board
“could create in the country an alternative religious structure to the
official clergy”. He did not explain why only one Muslim organisation
should exist.
Bisimbayev of the KNB secret
police admitted that all the judicial “expert” analyses had confirmed
that none of the literature used by Tabligh Jamaat contained “extremist,
terrorist, or any other calls against Kazakhstan’s laws”. However, he
claimed that simply because the group’s headquarters are abroad, “ALL
[emphasis in original] their activity could be characterised as subversive in
the ideological sphere, forming in the population anti-social or anti-civil
positions”.
No appeal against ban allowed
Local resident Erbolat
Omarbekov tried to challenge the court-ordered ban, regarding it as
“illegal”. However, on 8 April, Saryaka District Court refused to add
him as a party to the case to allow him to challenge the ban. On 21 May 2013
Judge Maksim Kaldygulov of Astana City Court upheld this decision, according to
the ruling seen by Forum 18. He argued that Omarbekov had no standing to
challenge the decision as he had not been a party to the February 2013 case.
No way seems to exist for
anyone or any organisation – apart from the state agencies which were party to
the original case – to legally challenge the ban.
SOURCE:
Forum18
http://forum18.org/archive.php?article_id=2023
