Oral Activist Held Hunger Strike Over Repeated Protest Bans

News surfaced yesterday that 62-year-old activist Bekbolat Utebayev staged a solo hunger strike outside the city administration building in Oral (Uralsk), holding signs that read “Hunger strike. We demand the right to peaceful protest," Orda.kz reports, citing Uralskaya Nedelya.

Over the past year, Utebayev has filed four notifications to organize rallies against rising prices, but each request was denied by local authorities.

In March, the regional court ruled the Akimat’s actions unlawful and ordered officials to stop violating citizens’ constitutional right to peaceful assembly. However, according to Utebayev, nothing has changed.

He also drew attention to the recent case of activist Marua Yeskendirova, who was detained on October 20 and sentenced to 10 days in jail — a punishment, he believes, for her repeated attempts to file a protest notice.

Utebayev recalled that during previous arrests, police had used force — one officer allegedly struck him in the eye. The activist, a pensioner with a second-degree disability, said that this time the police did not interfere with his individual protest.

Later, Oral Akim Murat Baimenov spoke with him.

Despite the Law on Peaceful Assembly, in effect since 2020, activists across Kazakhstan continue to face restrictions. As Orda.kz previously reported, people have been repeatedly denied permission to rally, including demonstrations against the 16% VAT hike.

In less than five years, the human rights organization ActivistsAreNotExtremists claims to have been denied 713 protest requests.

Original Author: Raushan Korzhumbekova