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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 001470 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL, EUR/RPM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV KDEM KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  TRIAL COURT HANDS DOWN GUILTY VERDICT IN 
HUMAN RIGHT'S ACTIVIST YEVGENIY ZHOVTIS' CASE; APPEAL LIKELY 
 
REFTEL:  ASTANA 1468 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  On September 3, a Kazakhstani district court 
sentenced human rights activist Yevgeniy Zhovtis to four years 
imprisonment for criminal negligence in connection with a vehicular 
accident.  Zhovtis' legal team is expected to appeal.  Several media 
outlets and many in the human rights and civil society community, 
including Zhovtis himself, expressed disappointment that the judge 
rushed the two-day trial and denied most of the defense's motions, 
including a request for independent expert testimony.  On August 26, 
Zhovtis told PolOff that his case may have been politically 
motivated and was "moving too quickly."  He stressed that he was not 
given adequate time to prepare a defense.  Post consistently has 
emphasized to Kazakhstani interlocutors the importance of a 
transparent, fair, apolitical process (reftel).  END SUMMARY. 
 
COURT HANDS DOWN GUILTY VERDICT 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On September 3, the Balkhash district court sentenced NGO 
director of the Human Rights Bureau and Kazakhstan's most prominent 
human rights activist, Yevgeniy Zhovtis, to four years imprisonment 
in a penal colony for a violation of the road traffic and vehicle 
operation rules leadingLQmRcQq that the 
jud:QBQ@QpDi_',`q9lE~en Zhovtis struck and killed a 
pedestrian with his car on a rural road while returning to Almaty. 
In his report to the police, Zhovtis said he was blinded by oncoming 
traffic and did not see the pedestrian until it was too late to 
avoid him.  The investigation confirmed that Zhovtis was driving 
within the speed limit.  It also showed that his alcohol-blood level 
was 0.046, a level that can result from taking certain medicines or 
drinking fermented milk products. 
 
FORMALLY CHARGED ON AUGUST 14 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Zhovtis was formally charged on August 14, after the 
police investigation found him criminally negligent for failing to 
slow down when he was blinded by oncoming traffic.  Zhovtis has 
publicly contested the police's assessment, arguing that he did not 
have enough time to react.  According to Vera Tkachenko, a civil 
society activist and Zhovtis' "voluntary defender," he reached a 
mutually-agreeable settlement with the deceased's family, who 
forgave him and opted not to press charges.  Since this is a 
criminal case, however, the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) used 
its prerogatives to proceed even though the victim's family 
apparently did not press charges.  Zhovtis faced up to five years in 
prison. 
 
CASE POLITICALLY MOTIVATED? 
 
¶7.  (SBU) At an August 25 press conference, Zhovtis' lawyer Sholpan 
Batkalova said that she considered the charges "illegal and 
unjustified."  She noted that the PGO named Zhovtis a suspect, 
rather than a witness, on July 28, but he and his lawyers were not 
notified until August 15.  Zhovtis himself stated at a press 
 
ASTANA 00001470  002 OF 003 
 
 
conference that he suspected someone "ordered the case" against him. 
 "Attempts are being made to curtail my movements and prevent me 
from speaking out," Zhovtis said, referring to a travel ban imposed 
on him for the duration of the investigation and trial. 
 
SHORT-NOTICE TRIAL 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  On August 26, Zhovtis received formal notification that 
his trial would begin the next day, August 27, in the village of 
Bakanas -- 200 kilometers from Almaty.  Zhovtis confirmed to PolOff 
that although the court changed his status from witness to suspect 
on June 28, he was not notified until August 14.  On August 20, he 
was informed his trial would begin on August 27.  He stressed that 
he was not given enough time to prepare a defense.  He noted that 
both of his lawyers were busy with other cases and could not attend 
the session on such short notice.  He also pointed out that two of 
his motions -- to conduct a new technical examination of the 
accident and to stop the criminal case pending the outcome of this 
assessment -- had been denied.  Zhovtis argued to the PGO that he 
should have three days to contest the denial of the motions, but the 
prosecutor did not consider his arguments. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) At the August 27 court session, Zhovtis, representing 
himself, successfully argued for the adjournment of the case until 
September 2.  However, the judge denied his motion to lift the 
travel ban and hold pre-trial proceedings, insisting that the trial 
would begin on September 2.  Post's locally-employed Almaty 
political assistant attended the court session.  In his comments 
afterwards, Zhovtis criticized the judge for "lack of 
professionalism," noting that the judge ignored procedural 
violations made by the investigator and the district prosecutor. 
 
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOWS ITS SUPPORT 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Local and international human rights activists organized 
a committee to monitor the proceedings against Zhovtis.  In a public 
statement on August 24, the committee called on the authorities to 
"treat the case in an unbiased and objective manner."  "Evgeniy 
Zhovtis has been known as an ardent human rights activist and an 
impartial and sincere critic of the state power," read the 
statement, "that is why we have asked the authorities of the 
Republic of Kazakhstan to prevent any possible pressure on the 
investigators and the courts in connection with this case."  The 
committee was initiated by two Moscow-based human rights activists, 
Inessa Frants and Vitaliy Ponomaryov.  The committee's public 
statement was signed by over 70 individuals and organizations, 
including Human Rights Watch, Helsinki Committee of Norway, and 
various organizations in Central Asia. 
 
¶11.  (SBU)  In an August 26 interview with the newspaper "Vremya," 
the head of the OSCE Center in Astana, Alexandr Keltchewsky, warned 
that any attempt to exert pressure on Zhovtis "will damage 
Kazakhstan's interests and undermine its image."  He added that if 
Zhovtis is prevented from attending the annual Human Dimension 
Implementation Meeting (HDIM) in Warsaw on September 28, then 
"certain political conclusions - negative for Kazakhstan - will be 
made." 
 
FIRST DAY OF TRIAL:  COURT DENIES DEFENSE'S MOTIONS 
 
¶12.  (SBU) On September 2, the first day of Zhovtis' trial, the 
judge turned down several defense motions, including a request that 
independent technical experts present evidence.  In a September 2 
Vremya newspaper article, Zhovtis said, "First and foremost, I would 
like to extend my sincere condolences to the victim's family.  From 
the point of view of the law, I did not break any traffic laws, as 
two independent analyses made clear.  These documents prove my 
innocence, which is why I am going to court well-prepared.  However, 
the way the investigation ended and the court hearing began leaves 
me little hope.  There have been so many violations of legal 
procedure, that it is very difficult to predict the outcome of the 
hearing.  If it goes the same way, then it will be difficult to 
prove my innocence." 
 
 
ASTANA 00001470  003 OF 003 
 
 
TRIAL CONCLUDES ON SECOND DAY 
 
¶13.  (SBU) On September 3, the second day of Zhovtis' trial, five 
National Forensic Center experts testified.  According to Post's 
political assistant, who observed the proceedings both days of the 
trial, Zhovtis' lawyers questioned the experts on several 
inconsistencies in their remarks.  Human Rights Watch representative 
Iva Dobichina and Post's political assistant observed police enter 
the court-room before closing arguments, and correctly predicted 
that the trial would conclude with a guilty verdict and Zhovtis' 
arrest by the end of the day. 
 
SIMILAR CASE PRESAGES THE ZHOVTIS VERDICT 
 
¶14.  (SBU) The guilty verdict was widely expected by Zhovtis and 
others in the civil society community -- especially after an Almaty 
court sentenced print reporter for "Vremya" newpaper Tokhniyaz 
Kuchukov to four years imprisonment for vehicular manslaughter in a 
very similar case on August 28.  Zhovtis told PolOff on August 28 
that he believed the Kuchukov ruling was designed to establish a 
precedent for his case.  On September 3, a Vremya article entitled 
"Under the Wheels of Justice," quoted Zhovtis as saying that 
"Kuchukov was most likely put in jail [for vehicular manslaughter] 
because of me."  In this article, Zhovtis also stated that he 
believes an unspecified "third party" has interfered in his case. 
The article quoted Zhovtis' descriptions of "major violations" of 
the law in the conduct of the trial.  Radio Azattyk (RFE/RL) quoted 
Zhovtis' lawyer Vitaly Voronov, who said the judge broke the law by 
not immediately approving the defense's motions.  Peter Svoik, the 
Deputy Chairman of the Azat opposition party, also published an 
article condemning Zhovtis' trial as an "illegal process." 
 
¶15.  Post has issued a statement on its website (put link here) and 
has received numerous inquiries from local human rights 
organizations.  Text of the statement follows: 
 
U.S. EMBASSY STATEMENT ON THE CONVICTION OF YEVGENIY ZHOVTIS 
 
On September 3, internationally-recognized human rights advocate 
Yevgeniy Zhovtis was convicted by a trial court of criminal 
negligence leading to grave consequences and sentenced to four years 
in a penal colony. 
 
In recent days, we have expressed our concerns about this case and 
urged the Kazakhstani authorities to provide Mr. Zhovtis access to 
fair legal proceedings, consistent with Kazakhstani law.   We will 
continue to make the same request during the appeals process. 
 
We note that there will inevitably be intense international scrutiny 
placed on how the appeals process will be conducted because of Mr. 
Zhovtis' prominence in the international human rights community and 
as Kazakhstan prepares to assume the Chairmanship of the 
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2010.  END 
TEXT. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) COMMENT:  The accident in which Zhovtis struck and killed 
a pedestrian was certainly unfortunate for everyone involved.  The 
activist himself publicly expressed deep regret and sought redress 
with the victim's family, as is often done in Kazakhstan.  Post does 
not believe that Zhovtis was set up, but will analyze reactions to 
the trial procedures.  We understand Zhovtis' legal team will appeal 
the verdict.  Following the accident, Post repeatedly urged its 
interlocutors in the government of Kazakhstan to follow Kazakhstani 
laws and act in accordance with international standards.  Post has 
emphasized to its interlocutors that this case has generated a 
considerable amount of international attention, and if any actions 
were taken that are not in complete accordance with Kazakhstani law, 
the situation would reflect poorly on Kazakhstan.  The Ambassador 
raised the case with Deputy Foreign Minister Zhigalov on September 2 
emphasizing the importance of a fair, transparent, non-politicized 
trial (reftel).  END COMMENT. 
 
HOAGLAND