Court Sentences Woman to Two Years for Inciting Ethnic Discord

The Gabit Musrepov District Court of the North Kazakhstan Region sentenced 35-year-old Zhanslu Darhambayeva to two years in prison for inciting ethnic discord, reports Orda.kz.

Her family believes the sentence is too severe, citing her pregnancy and imminent admission to a maternity hospital.

Darhambayeva, originally from Astana, lived in the North Kazakhstan Region and is trained as a teacher. She faced charges due to videos she posted on TikTok in January, which addressed individuals of Russian ethnicity. 

According to the court documents, the videos contained offensive language and derogatory statements.

She began to publicly insult people of Russian ethnicity in an indecent manner, expressing a negative and dismissive attitude towards them, violating the norms of public morality, indicating her negative attitude towards representatives of Russian ethnicity, namely: 'We have been through so much, we have had so many losses, so many...famine, and only now are we getting back on our feet, starting to live normally, and you are going crazy, you Russian *******, there is no place for you here... How annoying you are! Those Kazakhs who can hear me now, teach Russians because they are stupid, dumb!..' the case materials state.

Linguistic experts concluded that the videos contained elements of incitement to ethnic discord, including claims of national superiority and insults to the dignity of individuals based on ethnicity.

During the trial, Darhambayeva fully admitted guilt and expressed remorse. She described her work history, stating that she had been employed as a teacher in the village of Sokologorovka until 2019, when she left due to alleged mistreatment by ethnic Russian colleagues.

The case documents state:

They groundlessly slandered her to the director and set her against her, as well as the parents of the students. The attitude of the director and parents worsened, after which she was fired under an article. In 2024, she moved to the village of Urozhainoe and got a job as a teacher-psychologist at the school. After some time, she was appointed director of this school. She began to introduce the state language in the work activities of the school, to organize the work, which did not please her colleagues and the quartermaster. Pressure began to be put on her, allegedly she oppressed colleagues and did not allow them to work. Mostly, those who came to work in a state of alcoholic intoxication and those who were negligent in their work complained. They also wrote a complaint. Ultimately, unable to withstand the pressure, she quit and moved to v. Novoishimskoe, where she met her husband, became pregnant, and is now nine months pregnant."

She also claimed that she regularly encountered discrimination against the Kazakh language and ethnic Kazakhs in her professional life.

The court noted that Darhambayeva had pre-recorded the videos before publishing them. In her final statements, she apologized and stated she would not repeat such actions.

Darhambayeva was sentenced to two years in a minimum-security penal colony. She and her family have filed an appeal against the verdict.

Original Author: Kristina Yusicheva