Kazakhstan did not allow human rights activist to meet with deputies of Europe

Yelena Semenova, human rights activist from Pavlodar told that Kazakhstan did not allow her to meet with members of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

Semenova, who defends the rights of convicts, posted this information on her Facebook account. She said that customs officers did not allow her to leave the Almaty airport on the way to Strasbourg.

"Before this, authorities of Kazakhstan assured me that there was no restriction, but I just learned that the Karaganda region's Department of the Interior banned me from leaving Kazakhstan", - noted Semenova.

Border guards at the airport gave to her the letter that with the instruction of Interior Department of Karagande she is not allowed to leave Kazakhstan.

Recall, it is worth noting that Elena Semenova talked about the brutal conditions in prisons and detention centers in Kazakhstan during a series of meetings with members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg on July 3-5. According to the human rights defender, cases of torture and ill-treatment in places of detention included beatings, rape, humiliation and denial of medical treatment.

So, the leadership of the department of the penitentiary system committee of the Karaganda region accused Semenov of “providing false information.” After the department filed a statement with the Department of the Interior on July 12, a criminal case was initiated against the human rights activist under the article “Dissemination of false information”, which provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison.

"The Qazaq Times"