On December 14, supporters and relatives of young Kazakh intellectuals disappeared into prisons in China held a press conference at the International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This was reported by KzNews.

Rysbek Sarsenbay, a well-known public figure and a politician,  Kamatan Toktamuratkyzy, the mother of the innocently detained Garapa Nasiollauly, Gaukhar Kurmanalieva, a relative of the unjustly imprisoned Askar Azatbek, social activists and journalists took part in the press conference.

“My youngest son Garapa Nasiollauly, a literature teacher at the Sanzhy regional Number 2 Middle school, has been missing since July 2021. We do not yet know the exact reason for his detention. He did not say a word or commit a crime against the Chinese authorities. He is married with a 3-year-old son,” said Kamatan Toktamuratkyzy in tears.

"Although the oppression and persecution in China, which began in 2017, seems to have eased somewhat during the pandemic, it has now resumed, and arrests and imprisonment of innocent people have restarted," said Kydyrali Orazuly, a social activist.

Gaukhar Kurmanaliyeva, a spokeswoman for the group, which has been protesting in front of the Chinese embassy in Kazakhstan for 310 days, said neither the presidential administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, nor the Chinese embassy had ever asked why they were there. To date, the group seeking the release of innocent detainees have been fined about 4 million tenge by the Kazakh authorities.

Public figure and politician Rysbek Sarsenbay said, “Thousands of Kazakhs are imprisoned in China and the Kazakh authorities are not taking any action. They consider it an internal affair of China. This is a sign of obeying China. It's a sign of dependence on China as a state, politically and legally.”

The politician regretted that Kazakhstan as a state could not provide any assistance to its compatriots. He says, sanctions, like those in the West, should be imposed, previous agreements should be rescinded, and cultural exchanges should be stopped. He also boycotted the Winter Olympics in Beijing and called for pressure on China.

Politician R. Sarsenbay added that poets, writers and intellectuals have been persecuted in China recently. He emphasized that these people should be the first concern of  the intellectuals, poets and writers in the parliament, in power in our country. "They should speak out at the Parliament to protect the victims," he said.

It is known that a number of Kazakh writers in China, such as Garapa Nasiollauly, Nagyz Mukhammetuly, Kabyken Zeinurain, Kalysbek Babanuly, Adenbek Kamashuly, Sarkytzhan Salykuly, Nurbak Bigazin, have been arrested, convicted on various unfounded charges or disappeared. No doubt that there are many other Kazakh compatriots fallen victim to the political pressure in Xinjiang.

The Qazaq Times