Narymbaev, Ermek
Ermek Narymbaev is an independent human rights defender. He has been actively involved in exposing financial fraud carried out by a number of banks in Kazakhstan and is outspoken about the Government's failures to protect the human rights and interests of Kazakh people. Furthermore, he provides legal advice to people who have been deliberately misinformed by their banks. In 2011 he was honoured by the Kazakh civil society and received a national “Freedom” award (Front Line Defenders).
Stage 2 details (arrest/ detention/ extradition): The human rights defender was arrested on 12 October 2015 in Almaty, after the police raided his house. The arrest was made in connection with a post the he had made on social media on 8 October 2015 in which he questioned a criminal investigation launched against Mr Telibekov, head of the Union of Muslims in Kazakhstan, under Article 174. He was detained for twenty days in the Department of the Interior's administrative detention centre in Almaty (Front Line Defenders).
Stage 3 details (attack/ abduction/ rendition/ torture/ assassination/ death): On 22 January 2016, Ermek Narymbaev was found guilty of intentionally using communication networks to incite national discord and insult the honour and dignity of the Kazakh nation. The human rights defender received a 3-year prison term under Article 174 part 1 of the Criminal Code. He denies the charges against him and intends to appeal his sentence. On 30 March 2016, the Appellate Collegium of the Court of Almaty, replaced the three years' imprisonment sentence of human rights defender Mr Ermek Narymbaev with two and a half years of less restrictive forms of deprivation of liberty, out of prison (Front Line Defenders). Later the court replaced imprisonment with custodial restraint. He took then the opportunity to escape from Kazakhstan to Ukraine (Talant, 2016).
Other actions during Stages 1–3 (dispossession/ overseas assets frozen/ intimidation/ action against associates/ …): Narymbayev was banned from leaving his house and had his bank accounts frozen (Talant, 2016).
Legal status (refugee/ asylum seeker/ resident): Applied for political exile in Ukraine (Talant, 2016)
Current status: He is currently living in exile in Ukraine (Talant, 2016; Mauletbai , 2016).
Press sources: Talant, B., 2016. 'Kazakh opposition activists flock to Kyiv'. December 23, 2016. Kyiv Post. [Online].Available at: https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/kazakh-opposition-activists-flock-kyiv.html Front Line Defenders. 'Case study : Ermek Narymbaev'. [Online]. Available at:https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-ermek-narymbaev#case-update-id-2565 Mauletbai, S., 2016. 'Я сбежал из Казахстана - осуждённый за разжигание розни Ермек Нарымбаев', July 16, 2016. Inform Бюро [Online].Available at: https://informburo.kz/novosti/ya-sbezhal-iz-kazahstana-osuzhdyonnyy-za-razzhiganie-rozni-ermek-narymbaev.html