Kazakhstan Human Rights Lawyer Yevgeniy Yavorskiy Gives Press Conference in Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, June 14, at the National Press Building in Washington, DC, Kazakhstan Human Rights Lawyer Yevgeniy Yavorskiy gave a press conference on the status of his client Arman Dzhumageldiev, who has been detained and subject to mistreatment for more than a year. 

Briefing reporters on the arrest and treatment of Dzhumageldiev in prison, Yavorskiy showed reporters security camera footage of Dzhumageldiev's arrest. The video showed law enforcement brutally beating him after he cooperated with their orders. The video then showed law enforcement forcing a weapon into Dzhumageldiev's hand while he was unconscious. 

A reporter asked Yavorskiy what concrete steps the US could take to address gross human rights violations in Kazakhstan. 

"Kazakhstan poses as a country where human rights are protected," Yavorskiy said. "I think the situation would improve if the United States was raising these issues in international organizations."

Yavorskiy also urged the U.S. State Department to push Kazakhstan into making positive shifts. He noted that Kazakhstan's constitution includes the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence, but that these elements were being routinely disregarded.

Yavorskiy said Dzhumageldiev has been imprisoned by Kazakh authorities for the last 17 months. Yavorskiy said he has been denied any access to his client on the basis of "legal nonsense" that the authorities believe that he is "trying to create a positive image of Arman."

Yavorskiy said Dzhumageldiev acted honorably during the January 2022 protests in Kazakhstan, seeking to calm the demonstrators, and urging them to practice nonviolence and abstain from illegal acts. "This is completely the opposite of what he was accused of," Yavorskiy said.

Yavorskiy said the legal inquiry into Dzhumageldiev's case has been closed, but that no date or clarity has been provided on the next steps in his case. Yavorskiy said the case already has been tainted because Kazakhstan's attorney general went on television and declared Dzhumageldiev guilty before the investigation even started.

"You cannot declare someone guilty without a court verdict," Yavorskiy said. "It is a violation of the Kazakhstan Constitution." 

Yavorskiy said he would continue to seek justice for his client and for others facing misjustice by corrupted Kazak law enforcement and legal authorities. He said he loved his country and wanted it to live up to its ideals as a place where human rights are respected.

This material is distributed by Geopolitical Solutions LLC. on behalf of the Law Offices of Yavorskiy and Partners. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC.

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