Karakalpak Court Upholds Sentence Against Activist Extradited from Kazakhstan

The Supreme Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan has upheld the conviction of Rinat Utambetov, an activist extradited from Kazakhstan in December last year, Orda.kz reports.

Utambetov, 44, was found guilty under two articles of Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code: “encroachment on the constitutional order” and “dissemination of materials threatening public safety.”

He was sentenced to 2.5 years in a general-regime penal colony. The term was counted from his arrest in Almaty on April 30, 2024.

The court also ordered Utambetov to reimburse the Karakalpakstan Ministry of Internal Affairs more than 30 million Uzbek soums to cover the cost of his extradition.

The charges were based on three videos Utambetov shared in summer 2022 in a private Telegram group called “Shortanbai 1981,” made up mostly of former classmates. The videos featured speeches by leaders of the July 2022 protests in Nukus and Kazakh opposition figure Serikzhan Bilash. 

Although the content is legal in Kazakhstan, the legal examination in Uzbekistan deemed it to contain calls for separatism and violence.

Utambetov denied the accusations and emphasized in his appeal that the videos were widely available online and that he was not affiliated with any opposition groups.

The court dismissed his arguments and upheld the lower court’s ruling.

Utambetov’s case is part of a wider crackdown on Karakalpak activists. Among others targeted is Zhetkerbai Abdramanov, who was extradited from Russia and faces charges over alleged involvement in the banned group Alga Karakalpakstan.

Original Author: Ruslan Loginov