After the January tragedy, personnel (staff) changes took place in Kazakhstani law enforcement agencies. The arrest of the former head of the Committee of National Security (KNB), KarimMassimov, and a number of high-ranking officers of the special services supposed to lead positive changes in the field of national security.
As a practice shows, employees (the former KGB, now the KNB) of National Security Committeehave been persecuting dissidents since the times of the USSR, and if there were none, they were engaged in provocation.
More than 30 years have passed sincethe accession of independence in Kazakhstan, but the repressive apparatus and the system of suppression of civil liberties are still successfully operating today. To this day, this “duty” is performed by the 9th department of the KNB of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It seems that Kazakhstan is an independent, democratic, and secular state.Then why do political prisoners and victims of the regime still exist in our country?
Under the guise of fighting extremism and terrorism (it’s no longer a secret for anyone), security officers crack down on people with an active civic position, with a free views and political orientations other than regimes.
This time, Dauren Makin, a well-known artist in Kazakhstan, became a victim of law enforcement agencies (KNB). Graduate of the Almaty Art College and St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts devoted to the I.E. RepinDaurenMakin was awarded the medal of the Union of Artists of Kazakhstan named after Kasteev for the best work, for the painting called “Kelin”.
Moreover, two of his paintings “Nauryz”, “Usta” are performed on a permanent display at the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan. All his paintings are deeply permeated with love for his native land and country. That’s what he actually promoted.
As it became known, on April 29, 2022, Dauren Makin was arrested by employees of the capital’s agency of KNB. A criminal case under Article 256 Part 1 of Criminal Code of RoK “for propaganda of terrorism” was opened against him.
On his Facebook pageDauren Makin, allegedly,spread extremist statements and promoted Islamic terrorism. In fact, reviewing his page, you can see that there are no such statements or calls. On the contrary, Dauren, like any sane person, opposed Russian military aggression against democratic Ukraine.
Dauren was a listener and admirer of Heydar Dzhemal and Alexander Nevzorov, whose statements he posted on his page. Meanwhile, are the works and statements of G. Dzhemalor A. Nevzorov extremist and prohibited for distribution on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan?
G. Dzhemal’s books are on free sale.
It is worth recognizing that the artist is a believer and believed in a just society, where there is no war, corruption, crime, where the authorities listen to the opinion of the people.
He led a quiet family life, was not a member of socio-political organizations, did not even take part in rallies, processions and pickets. His only membership is Union of Artists of Kazakshtan which means that he is a real artist freefrom politics.
The study of the materials of this case showed that Dauren Makin was put under surveillance in 2021. At that time, the KNB was headed by Karim Massimov, who is recognized as a one of the main fighters against free thought.
It should be noted that in 2021 provocateurs under the code names “Arystan” and “Maira” were introduced into the artist’s inner circle. It was they who were engaged in the extraction of compromising information containing extremist statements and propaganda of Islamic terrorism.
According to the agent “Arystan”, Daurenwas engaged in ideological recruitment to propagate the ideas of “armed jihad”.n
However, in the materials submitted by the capital’s KNB, there is no information indicating the recruitment and ideological preparation of persons for the implementation of radical jihadist activities onreligious grounds. And these facts of the absence of recruitment were established by the employees of the capital’s KNB, but only after the arrest of artist and numerous complaints from the defense.
It turns out that the employees of the Nur-Sultan’s KNB, without providing facts indicating the authenticity of recruitment performed byDauren Makin, illegally hold the person in the capital’s pre-trial detention center ЕЦ 166.
Various political discussions against V. Putin, J. Biden, N. Nazarbayev, and even K. Tokayevare regularly held in the free press, but are there criminal cases on propaganda of terrorism against people who involved in the dissemination of such information?
Or maybe professional qualities of the national security officers are so low that it is difficult for them to distinguish a real propagandist from an ordinary artist?
Quite a few questions have accumulated to the investigation for these three months, while the artist is in custody.
Dauren’s relatives cannot achieve the closure of this absurd criminal case, where the evidence of the defendant’s guilt breaks down at each point of the accusation.
Perhaps after the high-profile arrests of the heads of special services at the beginning of 2022, the “survived” employees of the KNB of Nur-Sultan are trying to prove that they do not earn their bread in vain and supported by taxpayersfor good reason.
However, the capital’s “chekists”, as this story demonstrates, fulfill their official obligations, not disdaining fabrication of cases and provocations against civilians.
At the moment, the artist has been imprisoned for 90 days, and the Court regularly extends his arrest.
It is known that the artist has two minor children, elderly parents and owns 4-room apartment and office space, as well as a personal workshop in Nur-Sultan.
According to the defense, Dauren Makin was not going to leave the country, as he was constantly engaged in his work.
Therefore, the arguments of the accusers that the alleged defendant could “hide from the investigation and the court” are more than unfounded and not supported by any documents.
