Astana, Jan 5 (IANS) The lawsuit filed in Kazakhstan against Bekzat Maksutkhan, head of Kazak advocacy group Nagyz Atajurt Volunteers, and 18 other co-defendants on charges of inciting “national (or ethnic) discord against the Chinese people,” has raised concerns over the sovereignty of the Kazakh legal system, a report said on Monday.

It added that the prosecution appears to be filing the case on behalf of the Chinese government without independently verifying their assertions.

Writing for ‘Bitter Winter’, Rune Steenberg, an anthropologist who researches the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Uyghurs, said the case fuels suspicion that the Chinese authorities may be using the Kazakh legal system for its political purposes, including silencing critics, and persecuting Kazakhs from Xinjiang outside China.

“To be accused of inciting hatred against or insulting the dignity of a people, one must utter explicit hateful or demeaning expressions aimed at this people as a people, not against any one politician from that country, nor against the country’s government or its policies. The criticism of a government, a policy, or a politician does not constitute an attack against the people, nation, or ethnicity that this government governs or that this individual is a member of,” Steenberg stated.

“Therefore, to lawfully confirm the accusations, the evidence must unambiguously show an expression of hatred or disgust against the Chinese people as a people in general, not against the government, its policies, or any one politician,” he added.

The report noted that nearly all expressions cited in the lawsuit relate to the imprisonment of Kazakh citizen Alimnur Turganbay by the Chinese authorities earlier in 2025, indicating that the advocacy group’s gathering and protest were largely centred on this issue.

“The dissent expressed is against the Chinese government for imprisoning this individual. This is very much in line with Atajurt’s previous actions, which have been focused on securing the release of other Kazakhs in Xinjiang who were, according to Atajurt and many international observers, arbitrarily detained by the Chinese state,” it noted

None of the statements, the report said, amounts to incitement of discord against any national or ethnic group, nor do they insult the national dignity and honour of Chinese citizens. It added that none of these statements can be said to be “committing a serious criminal offence against peace and human security.”

“To the contrary, they seem to be concerned with preventing arbitrary detentions and securing the release of, to their best knowledge, wrongfully imprisoned people. This must be said to be the opposite of inciting discord or insulting anyone’s dignity; it is calling for the respect of national and international laws,” the report mentioned.

--IANS

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