Sergei Duvanov (born 1953) is a prominent Kazakhstani

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

who, in 2002, wrote articles that claimed

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Nursultan Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ( kk, Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbişūlı Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, in off ...

and several other Kazakh politicians had illicit

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s containing millions of U.S.' dollars. The scandal was labeled "

Kazakhgate Kаzаkhgаtе refers to the scandal surrounding James Giffen, an American businessman and former advisor of Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev. Charges US prosecutors accused Giffen of bribery paid to Nazarbayev and Nurlan Balgimbayev, ...

".What's The Truth About Kazakhstan?
CBS News

Controversy

In 2001, the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

investigated Kazakhgate. Duvanov was arrested in October 2002 at his

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outside Almaty and accused of raping a 14-year-old girl. The arrest occurred one day before he was going to visit the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

to speak about Kazakhstan's human rights situation.Supporters of detained Kazakhstani journalist denounce incident as government set-up
EurasiaNet In January, 2003 he was found guilty and sentenced to three and a half years in prison. Among others, the International League for Human Rights (ILHR), a New York-based human right watchdog, condemned the Kazakhstani government's persecution of Sergei Duvanov. On the initiative of its Central Asia Project Manager

Peter Zalmayev 'Peter Zalmayev' (russian: Петр (Питер) Залмаев) is director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative (EDI), an international non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of democracy and human rights in post-Communist transition ...

, ILHR awarded Duvanov (in absentia) its annual human rights award at a ceremony held at the United Nations on December 9, 2002. As of 15 January 2004, he is under a prison regime which allows him to go to work and live at home. However, Duvanov is not allowed to go to public places (a notion undetermined by Kazakh law). Duvanov, and the opposition, claim that the case was politically motivated. On January 15, 2004, Duvanov was released on probation.

References

1953 births Living people Kazakhstani journalists Kazakhstani prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Kazakhstan {{Kazakhstan-journalist-stub

Controversy

See also

References