Tag Archives: law

Kazakh court releases activist

AUG. 28 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Surprising observers, a court in the southern Kazakh city of Taraz cleared human rights activist Vadim Kuramshin of extortion. Mr Kurashmin had faced 14 years in jail. He said the accusations had been politically motivated. Police arrested him in January during a crackdown against opposition activists.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 103, published on Aug. 31 2012)

Uzbek court bans MTS

AUG. 13 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Uzbekistan has cancelled all licences held by the Russian mobile operator MTS, which operates under the local brand Uzdunrobita, media reported. Uzbek officials had previously slapped temporary bans on MTS for alleged tax dodging the breaking its contract. MTS denies the allegations.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 101, published on Aug. 17 2012)

Georgian court fines opposition

AUG. 10 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in Georgia fined Kakha Kaladze, a Georgian ex-international footballer, $10.3m for withdrawing $2m without explaining how he was going to spend the cash, media reported. Mr Kaladze, Georgia’s most famous living footballer, supports Georgia’s opposition. Last month, the authorities froze his bank accounts on fraud allegations.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 101, published on Aug. 17 2012)

Azerbaijani police arrests reporter

JUNE 22 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani police arrested Khilal Mamedov a prominent local journalist and human rights activists for possessing heroin, media reported. Supporters of Mr Mamedov, who edits the popular Tolishi Sado newspaper in the southern region of Talysh, said his arrest was politically motivated.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 094, published on June 29 2012)

Kazakh prosecutors charge several activists

JUNE 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Media in Kazakhstan reported that prosecutors were to charge several detained opposition activists, including Vladimir Kozlov who heads the banned Alga! party, with plotting a revolution. No official statement has yet been made. A deadly riot in the town of Zhanaozen in December triggered a crackdown by the authorities against the opposition.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 094, published on June 29 2012)

Azerbaijani parliament passes law restricting journalists

JUNE 14 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s clampdown on media and access to information continued when parliament passed a law that will restrict journalists’ ability to obtain corporate records, media reported. The new law states that information will only be granted with the consent of the companies and individuals being investigated.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 093, published on June 22 2012)

Kazakh court convicts 34 people

JUNE 4 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A court in western Kazakhstan convicted 34 people of instigating a riot that killed 15 people in the town of Zhanaozen in December. The trial was one of the most politically sensitive in Kazakhstan’s post- Soviet history. Of the 34 people convicted, 13 were sent to prison.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 091, published on June 8 2012)

Tajik court bans Islamist group

MAY 4 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s Supreme Court banned a Muslim extremist group called Jamaat Ansarullah, media reported. Jamaat Ansarullah claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack in Khujand, north Tajikistan, in 2010 that killed 3 policemen. It has also been linked to al Qaeda.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 087, published on May 11 2012)

Kazakhstan’s court extend communists’ ban

APRIL 23 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Kazakh court extended by 6 months a ban on Kazakhstan’s Communist Party, one of the few opposition political parties with nationwide support. The Communist Party was first banned in October for 6 months for colluding with an outlawed party. This ban covered a parliamentary election in January.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 085, published on April 27 2012)

First jury trial ends in Georgia