Court Hearing Set for Detained QazNews24 Satirist

The court hearing on the case of Temirlan Yensebek, who runs the satirical Instagram public Qaznews24 and is accused of inciting discord under Part 1 of Article 174 of Kazakhstan's Criminal Code, will be on February 14 in Almaty, Orda.kz reports.

Lawyer Zhanar Balgabayeva informed Orda about this.

On January 31, the pre-trial investigation was completed; on February 3, the case was sent to the prosecutor's office, and on February 7, it was transferred to the court.

On February 10, the lawyer learned the hearing date and the judge's name. According to her, all process stages are proceeding at an unusual speed.

On February 3, I filed a motion to terminate the criminal prosecution of my client due to the fact that his actions did not constitute a criminal offense. I sent the motion in the morning and received a dismissal. It turns out that they reviewed it within an hour, says Zhanar Balgabayeva.  

Usually, such motions are considered within three days, but in this case, everything was accelerated. And all motions from the defense were dismissed.

If a pre-trial investigation is conducted within two months, then the pre-trial investigation regarding my client lasted less than 15 days. The Prosecutor's Office considers the case within 10 days, and in our case, the prosecutor's office considered the case in three to four days. If the question of which judge will accept the case is decided within 10 to 12 days, then in our case it was decided within five, the lawyer says. 

The court office was also surprised that everything was happening so quickly. The judge in the case of Temirlan Yensebek will be Yesen Ustelbayev. 

According to Zhanar Balgabayeva, the speed may be connected with the authorities’ desire to minimize public resonance around the case.

I assume that there is a specific order, and no one needs a lot of fuss around the political case of my client, so everything is being carried out in an accelerated manner. The less time, the less noise. I can't explain the rush in any other way.

Reports on Temirlan Yensebek's detention emerged on the evening of January 17. A criminal case was opened against Yensebek under Article 174 of the Criminal Code ("Incitement of ethnic discord").

On January 19, the court ordered that he be sent to a pre-trial detention center for two months.

The infamous song "Yo, Orystar" in a QazNews24 post regarding Tina Kandelaki could be the reason behind the charges. 

Single pickets were held in support of Yensebek.

Among the protesters were journalists Ruslan Biketov and Asem Zhapisheva, as well as several civil activists. The police confirmed that the protests were indeed held but did not comment on the arrest of the picketers.

Original Author: Alina Pak