Protesters against China's repression - sentenced in their home country

TT

Published 11.45

         

         April 2021: The outside of one of China's detention camps in Xinjiang. Abuses and imprisonment               are reported to have been scaled down, but many freedoms are still severely restricted in the region.           Archive photo. Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP/TT

19 Kazakhs who have demonstrated against Chinese repression are sentenced in their home country.

The 19 activists participated in protests on Kazakhstan's border with China last year. There, they burned Chinese flags and demanded the release of a Kazakh detained in China.

Eleven sentenced to several years in prison for incitement in a Kazakh court. Eight sentenced to supervision.

“It signals that Kazakhstan is willing to sacrifice the freedoms of its people to maintain good relations with Beijing,” says Yalkun Uluyol at Human Rights Watch.

In Xinjiang, across the border, China escalated a widespread repression of Muslim ethnic groups almost ten years ago. Hundreds of thousands were held in large camps with aggressive indoctrination and reports of widespread abuses.