Photo credit: Bota Aspan's facebook
In Kazakhstan, security forces detained an activist for a photo with an imaginary poster. Zhangbot Alzhanova reported it on his Facebook page, as to ZMINA Human Rights Center.
Zhangbota Alzhanova helps the persons who were detained during protest rallies. On May 6th, she published a photo on her Facebook page, where she and her friend held an “imaginary poster”.
"We decided to come out with such a poster. What do you think, will they arrest us, won’t they? It seems, we had nothing provocative written on”, - ironically signed a photo of Alzhanova.
On May 9, the activist was detained by the police. Alzhanova said that when she was riding a bus in the morning, when a car blocked a way to the bus. Then, persons from the car asked me to go with them.
When an activist refused to quit the bus, they used force to pull her out of the bus. “They pushed me into the car, held my arms and legs, seized my phone. I resisted, not knowing who held me, where they were going and what they wanted to do. I had a shock”.
Later, it was found out she had been taken to the police station.
At the request of the young woman to present their identity cards, the officers reacted harshly and threatened her to "place her under arrest for 15 days”.
The police charged Alzhanova with relations with the opposition movement "Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan", which is considered as extremist movement in Kazakhstan. The young woman was questioned for more than two hours, her lawyer was allowed to get in the police station only by the evening.
In Kazakhstan election is approaching, so the authorities have exacerbated the pressure on activists and civil society.
