Yevgeni Zhovtis trial was fair and impartial, ambassador says

Kazakhstan’s political and economic prominence is growing, due in no small part to its abundant fossil-fuel wealth, but many argue the country’s government is running roughshod over basic human rights.

Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the U.S., Erlan Idrissov, asserts that Kazakhstan’s democracy is strong and disputes the notion that rights are being violated. In a Washington Times editorial, he argues that the court trial of a famous Kazakh human-rights activist, Yevgeni Zhovtis, was conducted in compliance with the rule of law.

Zhovtis was convicted in September of manslaughter for striking and killing a man with his car. He is now serving a four-year sentence in a labor camp – but rights groups in Kazakhstan and officials overseas are expressing concern about the efficacy of the judicial process in the Central Asian country.

They allege that Zhovtis, the director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, was granted an unfair trial. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, a department of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe – a security organization that Kazakhstan is chairing this year – also raised doubts about the case, saying "questionable procedures may have violated Zhovtis’ rights to a fair trial."

Idrissov disputed those claims, saying "the court, independent of government involvement or interference, found Mr. Zhovtis guilty." Allegations that Zhovtis is a political prisoner, he added, are "misguided beliefs."

The Zhovtis case not only complicates Kazakhstan OSCE Chairmanship – it could also make the establishment of friendly relations with democratic Western governments more difficult. But the country appears to have found allies in Russia and Belarus: The three nations recently agreed to a union that will lower barriers to trade and could eventually speed labor and capital exchanges.

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