Akimats Now Required to Offer Alternative Areas for Assemblies

Organizers of assemblies in Kazakhstan will no longer be left without options for holding peaceful gatherings, Orda reports.

Akimats must offer another location or time before disallowing a gathering.

Kazakhstan's Constitutional Court has reviewed a challenge to the country's peaceful assembly law, prompted by a citizen's complaint after being denied permission to hold a rally in Astana.

The right to peaceful assembly is not absolute. It may be limited within the framework of the purposes provided for by the Constitution. Each refusal must be based on a careful analysis of the circumstances and risks, taking into account the purposes, public significance and scale of the event, the Court commented.

The ruling establishes that local authorities cannot disallow assembly requests without proposing alternative options.

If officials violate this requirement, organizers have the right to appeal.

Additionally, Akimats must now publish information about available meeting locations on their websites, including details about dates, times, and capacity limits.

This ruling comes as journalist Asem Zhapisheva was sentenced to 15 days in detention on January 20 for holding a solitary picket in support of Temirlan Yensebek, who runs the satirical channel QazNews24 and is also in custody.

Original Author: Alina Pak