Tag Archives: law

Kazakh court releases former mayor of Karaganda on parole

JUNE 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Kazakhstan released on parole Baurzhan Abdishev, the former akim (mayor) of Karaganda in central Kazakhstan. Abdishev was arrested in September 2014 on charges of abuse of power and participation in organised crime. Earlier in May, a Kazakh judge had proposed that Abdishev serve the remainder of his 5-year sentence in his house in Astana.

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(News report from Issue No. 284, published on June 10 2016)

Centerra sues Kyrgyzstan

BISHKEK, MAY 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Centerra Gold, the Toronto-listed company that owns the Kumtor gold mine in east Kyrgyzstan, lodged arbitration proceedings against the Kyrgyz government, pushing their already-strained relationship to breaking-point.

The company laid out three areas for its litigation challenge. It said it would challenge both an environmental claim against it and a charge by the Kyrgyz prosecutor that a $200m dividend paid in 2013 was illegal. Centerra also said it suspected that a delay in gaining official approval for its 2016 mining plan was designed to frustrate it for political reasons.

“The company will continue to contest all of the claims in international arbitration in accordance with the 2009 Restated Investment Agreement,” Centerra said in a statement.

It filed the arbitration case with the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, a favoured destination for dispute resolution for projects in Central Asia. Earlier this year, the Stockholm court ruled in favour of an Estonian building company against the Kazakh foreign ministry.

Centerra’s reference to the 2009 agreement refers to the renegotiation of the contract. This boosted Kyrgyzstan’s share in Centerra to 32% from just under 16%. Centerra, in turn, fully owns the Kumtor Gold Company that operates the mine.

Kyrgyzstan is the largest share- holder in Centerra but has said that it wants to take a larger, more direct stake in the country’s biggest industrial unit.

And it appears to have been applying pressure on Centerra to force the issue. In March, Kyrgyz police raided the Kumtor Gold offices in Bishkek, looking for evidence of wrongdoing.

And a court in Bishkek has also been slapping down fines against Kumtor Gold over environmental damage and the government has delayed signing off on 2016 production plans.

This appears to be the start of a showdown in Kyrgyzstan’s mining sector. Once proceedings begin, lawyers and prosecutors, managers and ministers will confront each other in a legal battle that will ultimately decide control of the Kumtor mine and Kyrgyzstan’s economic output. Kumtor generates around a tenth of Kyrgyzstan’s GDP.

Investors also appeared to cheer the arbitration move by Centerra Gold’ pushing its share price up by 1.6% the day after the announcement to 6.86 Canadian dollars.

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(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)

Georgia’s President vetoes bill

MAY 31 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili vetoed a bill to change procedures in and the composition of the country’s Constitutional Court, sending back to Parliament the controversial draft law. MPs from the ruling Georgian Dream party said they will not seek to override the veto and will amend the bill to accommodate the demands of the opposition. Critics of the amendments to Constitutional Court had complained that the changes were designed to give the government more power. Mr Margvelashvili has previously blocked legislation put forward by the Georgian Dream coalition government, of which he is a member.

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(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)

Azerbaijan frees Ismayilova

MAY 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Supreme Court in Azerbaijan unexpectedly freed investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova from prison, marking a major victory for human rights and free speech activists.

Ms Ismayilova was the most high- profile journalist imprisoned in Azerbaijan over the last few years in a crackdown by the authorities on the media and opposition activists. She had worked for the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, hosted a popular radio programme and reported on corruption allegations against President Ilham Aliyev.

The Supreme Court scrapped charges against Ms Ismayilova for misappropriation of property and abuse of power but upheld other charges of tax evasion and illegal entrepreneurship. Importantly it reduced the original sentence of 7-1⁄2 years handed down in September 2015 to a 3-1⁄2 year suspended sentence. Ms Ismayilova had been arrested and imprisoned since December 2014.

Wearing a huge smile, Ms Ismayilova emerged from her prison in Baku, to face the media. She was as defiant as ever.

“My arrest was solely for political reasons as President Aliyev and his clique wanted to get rid of any criticism against them,” she said.

Later, in an interview with RFE/RL, Ms Ismayilova said that she would continue to work as an investigative journalist. The authorities, though, have said that Ms Ismayilova is not allowed to work as a journalist during her suspended sentence.

The Azerbaijani authorities appear to have had a change of heart regarding dozens of activists they have arrested over the past few years. They allowed human rights activists Arif and Leyla Yunus to leave the country earlier this month and in March gave amnesty to a dozen or so activists.

An economic downturn, triggered by a collapse in oil prices has hit Azerbaijan hard. Observers said the authorities in Azerbaijan may have decided to back down over the West’s demands to relax their hardline approach in favour of improved ties.

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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Court in Kazakhstan imprisons critical journalist

ALMATY, MAY 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Almaty sentenced Guzyal Baidalinova, owner and editor of the Nakanune.kz website which is critical of the Kazakh government, to 1-1⁄2 years in jail for libel against Kazkommertsbank.

Baidalinova’s supporters said that the charges against her are politically motivated and show that the authorities in Kazakhstan have little regard for freedom of the press. In a separate case, charges against Seitkazy Matayev, head of the Journalists Union and a former press chief for President Nursultan Nazarbayev were reduced from embezzlement and tax evasion to abuse of trust. He has denied the charges.

The authorities in Kazakhstan have been cracking down on journalists as an economic downturn worsens and ordinary Kazakhs start become increasingly frustrated with their plight.

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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Kazakh company fails to pay salaries

MAY 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Kazakh court ordered the seizure of assets at Munai Service Aktobe, a small oil service company in north- western Kazakhstan, after it failed to pay 17.3m tenge ($52,000) in wage arrears. The Aktobe administration said that there are several companies in the oil and gas sector whose wage arrears are “chronic”. In 2011, protests by oil workers in Western Kazakhstan triggered clashes that killed at least a dozen people. With increasing frequency, reports are emerging from Kazakhstan that companies are failing to pay their workers on time.

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(News report from Issue No. 281, published on May 20 2016)

Kyrgyz court sentences for espionage

MAY 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – A Kyrgyz court sentenced Altynbek Muraliyev, son of former PM Amangeldi Muraliyev, to 12 years in prison for treason and espionage. Muraliyev was arrested in November 2014, while attempting to leave Kyrgyzstan. The National Security Service said he had given classified information to foreign governments.

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(News report from Issue No. 281, published on May 20 2016)

Kyrgyzstan introduces media law

MAY 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyz legislators proposed a new bill to restrict foreign media funding into the country, a law that could further undermine Kyrgyzstan’s shaky freedom of expression record. The new law would ban foreigners from setting up media organisations in the country and restrict foreign funding to 20% of an organisation’s total revenue. Media lobby groups have said that this law will serve only to restrict media and reduce free speech.

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(News report from Issue No. 281, published on May 20 2016)

Turkmen President pardons prisoners

MAY 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov pardoned 853 prisoners to mark the Day of the Constitution. The presidential grace is a routine gesture that shows Mr Berdymukhamedov’s control over the essential institutions in the country. According to official media, around 4,000 people have been freed in the past year through presidential pardons.

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(News report from Issue No. 281, published on May 20 2016)

Georgia changes rules for Constitutional Court

MAY 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Opposition MPs in Georgia have protested against what they said was a rushed reform of the Constitutional Court that will curtail its power and subvert it to the government.

The ruling Georgian Dream coalition set the final vote on the bill for Saturday May 14, just 14 hours after it had sparked furious arguments in parliament.

The opposition, led by the United National Movement party (UNM), the party of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, said the bill was in effect a punishment against the Constitutional Court for ruling against the Georgian Dream several times in the past few months.

Shalva Shavgulidze, opposition MP for the Free Democrats, said: “The only purpose of this bill is for the ruling party to gain control over the Constitutional Court.”

These charges were rejected by MPs from the Georgian Dream. MP Eka Beselia said that the changes were needed to reduce the previous UNM government’s influence over it. “This Court has to be fully liberated from political influences,” she said.

The bill, now adopted, raised the quorum for the 9-member Court from five to six, effectively making it more difficult for the Court to veto laws supported by the government.

Democracy lobby groups have said that this will make the Court a less effective check on the government’s executive powers.

Under the new law the minimum numbers of judges needed to make a decision was also raised to seven from six, again making it more complicated to pass judgements.

In September, just a few weeks before what will be a fiercely fought parliamentary election, President Giorgi Margvelashvili, will appoint new judges to the Court after two of the sitting judges reach the end of their 10-year terms.

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(News report from Issue No. 281, published on May 20 2016)