PROMINENT OPPOSITION JOURNALIST CONVICTED IN KAZAKHSTAN ON RAPE CHARGES
1/28/03

A Kazakhstani judge sentenced a prominent opposition journalist January 28 to a 3 ½-year prison term on charges that he raped an underage girl. Supporters of the journalist, Sergei Duvanov, characterized the case as politically motivated and labeled the sentence "predictable and pathetic." One added that Duvanov’s case could undermine investor confidence in Kazakhstan.

Like the criminal charges themselves, Duvanov’s trial, which began December 24, had been marked by controversy. The presiding judge permitted foreign observers, including diplomats from the United States, the Netherlands and the OSCE, to observe the trial, but barred mass media representatives and the general public from the proceedings.

As the trial drew to a close, Duvanov and his defense team effectively ceased cooperating. Technically the defendant fired his lawyers in a protest action, charging the presiding judge with predetermining the verdict. "We proved everything [concerning Duvanov’s innocence] to the court and if the court does not want to listen to it … then Duvanov has no further need of our services," the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency quoted Yevgeny Zhovtis, the head of Duvanov’s defense team, as saying on January 23, the day of their "firing."

Duvanov from the start maintained that authorities fabricated the rape charge, saying that just before the supposed encounter with a 14-year-old girl in late October someone drugged his tea. [For background see the EurasiaNet Human Rights archives]. Duvanov’s supporters add that his prosecution is an attempt by President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s administration to gain retribution for investigative articles probing the possible involvement of top Kazakhstani officials in a massive corruption scheme, dubbed Kazakhgate. His arrest came just days before he was to leave for a series of speaking engagements in the United States concerning his Kazakhgate investigation. Last August, not long after the publication of some of his findings, Duvanov suffered serious injuries, including knife wounds, in an attack by unidentified assailants.

Charles Both, a US-based attorney for Duvanov, characterized the guilty verdict as an "attempt to silence him [Duvanov]." While the conviction had been long anticipated, the length of the sentence came as a surprise, Both said. According to Kazakhstan’s criminal code, Duvanov should have received a lengthier sentence. Prosecutors sought a 7-year term for Duvanov, but the court cut that term in half, saying it believed Duvanov was unaware that the victim was a minor.

Both suggested the conduct of the trial, along with the seemingly whimsical determination of the sentence, would end up focusing foreign attention on the "arbitrariness" of Kazakhstan’s judicial system. He said the ramifications of the verdict may be felt far beyond Kazakhstan’s borders. The case stands not only to have a chilling effect on the independent press in Kazakhstan, but it could also serve to diminish the desire of foreign investors to do business in the country.

"It [the Duvanov verdict] should be a warning to investors that you’re dealing with a judicial system in Kazakhstan that is absolutely arbitrary – that acts at the whim of what the president of the country wants accomplished," Both said.

Some observers say that influential Kazakhstani officials are pushing for the renegotiation of some deals in the lucrative energy sector, in order to allow the state to claim a greater stake in various development projects. [For additional information see the EurasiaNet Business and Economics archives].

High-profile corporate investors have tangled with the Kazakhstani government in recent months. For example, Tengizchevroil, a consortium led by ChevronTexaco, announced in November that it was suspending a an expansion project due to a funding dispute with Kazakhstani officials. [For background see the EurasiaNet Business and Economics archive] On January 25, Interfax-Kazakhstan reported that the dispute was resolved and the consortium would resume full operations.

Duvanov has the right to appeal the verdict. Both said he would encourage Duvanov to exhaust his legal options, despite the belief that an appeal would be unsuccessful. Both added that efforts to get foreign governments, including the United States, to exert pressure on Kazakhstani officials over Duvanov’s prosecution have not been successful.

Duvanov’s supporters have made persistent efforts to raise awareness about the case among Washington policy makers, but to little avail. "With Iraq and al Qaeda and Afghanistan … it’s improbable that anyone is going to pursue human rights concerns in that part of the world [Central Asia]," Both said.

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Posted January 28, 2003 © Eurasianet
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