Lawyers Sound Alarm Over Journalists’ Health in Prison: Mukhammedkarim and Tleuzhan Denied Treatment

Lawyers for Duman Mukhammedkarim and Aigerim Tleuzhan say both journalists urgently need hospital treatment — but their situations are being ignored.

Human rights defender Bakhytzhan Toregozhina has called on officials to take action: “Today you’re a deputy — tomorrow, you could find yourself in the same place as those we defend.”

Orda.kz reports on the growing concern.

Galym Nurpeisov, Mukhammedkarim’s lawyer, disputes statements made by the Qyzylorda Regional Department of the Penal Correction System (DUIS) and says false information about his client’s treatment is being spread.

Someone claims Duman is receiving care, getting vitamins, even massages, and that the facility’s head visits him often. They also promised to send him to a hospital, but that never happened. Even now they’re saying he’s already there, yet hospital staff told us he isn’t, Nurpeisov said.

According to the lawyer, Mukhammedkarim is being held in solitary confinement, in a cell of less than eight square meters, with cold walls and drafts blowing through the window.

He suffers from prostate inflammation, kidney issues, and an enlarged liver, but has been denied comprehensive medical examination.

Another issue, Nurpeisov says, is that Mukhammedkarim’s letters never reach their recipients. Despite sending four letters — to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Presidential Administration, human rights activist Toregozhina, and the lawyer himself — none of them have been received.

They’re trying to restrict his right to communicate, the lawyer said.

By law, Mukhammedkarim should be serving his sentence in Almaty Region, but authorities refuse to transfer him, citing 13 disciplinary violations.

His only real violation is refusing to wear a prison uniform, which he admits. Duman says he won’t wear it because he doesn’t consider himself a criminal. The other 12 penalties, we believe, were provoked by prison staff. He remains calm, but they keep trying to ‘break’ him — and as soon as he raises his voice, they switch on cameras and record him,Nurpeisov added. 

I arrive early to meet my client, but I only get to see him around six in the evening. I spend hours standing in the corridor, where the wind blows right through — it’s already cold in Qyzylorda. Duman waits for me in the visiting room for about an hour. They just laugh, smile, and tell me the room is occupied, that there are no available spaces. But I’ve seen with my own eyes that they have another room, the human rights lawyer said.

Anara Aidarkhanova, the lawyer representing imprisoned journalist Aigerim Tleuzhan, has also spoken out.

Her client developed an abscess that has turned into an undiagnosed condition. 

The lawyer says that the prison’s medical care is not helping — and is in fact worsening her condition due to an incorrect diagnosis or poor treatment.

She’s in constant pain, has lost weight, and her immune system is weak. She eats normally, but keeps losing weight. They took her to the central hospital just to create the illusion of care — the treatment was ineffective, and her condition is getting worse,Aidarkhanova explained. 

The lawyers and human rights advocates filed complaints with the DUIS and the Ministry of Health, demanding a full medical examination and alternative treatment.

However, they say that after seven months, no help has been provided. 

Officials maintain that current care is sufficient and hospitalization unnecessary.

We believe the reason she hasn’t been taken from prison for a medical examination is a shortage of staff to provide an escort. It’s easier for them to say she’s healthy and can dress her own wounds. But it’s absolutely clear to everyone that her illness has been progressing for seven months, and it’s obvious that something is seriously wrong,  Aidarkhanova said.

Human rights defenders point out that when Aigerim first sought medical help, the prison did not even have the most basic state-provided medicines, for which a budget is allocated annually.

In the end, the journalist’s relatives had to buy and deliver the medicines from Almaty.

Kazakh human rights activist Bakhytzhan Toregozhina, for her part, warned prison staff that the incarcerated persons are not faking or exaggerating their conditions. 

Her reasoning is simple: out of all the people her organization represents, only three have fallen seriously ill — Duman Mukhammedkarim, Aigerim Tleuzhan, and marathoner Marat Zhylyanbayev.

Original Author: Dina Ismagambetova