Journalist Asem Zhapisheva Arrested for 15 Days

The activist, detained during a solo picket in support of Temirlan Yensebek, was charged under Part 7 of Article 488 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Kazakhstan - “Violation of the legislation on the procedure for organizing and holding peaceful assemblies,” Orda.kz reports.

Zhapisheva was detained within five minutes of beginning her demonstration outside the Kazakh National Opera and Ballet Theatre, where she held a sign reading, "Satire is not a crime."

She had announced her protest plans on social media following the earlier arrest of Ruslan Biketov, who had also demonstrated support for Yensebek.

On January 17, Temirlan Yensebek was detained in Almaty.

Yensebek, who runs the satirical QazNews24, was detained after law enforcement searched his apartment.

He has since been left under custody and charged under Article 174 of Kazakhstan's Criminal Code for allegedly inciting social, national, tribal, racial, class, or religious hatred.

Original Author: Aliya Askarova