It hasn’t been a good summer for Kazakh anti-government social media influencers. First, vlogger Aidos Sadykov was whacked in broad daylight in Ukraine. And now another critic, Duman Mukhammedkarim, has received a seven-year prison term for “financing extremism” and “participating” in a banned organization. 

Mukhammedkarim’s sentencing occurred August 2 at a court in the Almaty region, following a closed trial. In addition to prison time, he was banned from engaging in public and political activities for three years. 

The criminal conviction stems from an interview the 46-year-old Mukhammedkarim did in late 2022 with Kazakh officialdom’s bête noire #1 – former banker Mukhtar Ablyazov, the founder of the opposition Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement. Ablyazov, who now lives in an undisclosed location in Europe, is wanted in his homeland, having been convicted in absentia on murder and embezzlement charges. In 2018, a court in Astana determined that DVK was an “extremist organization” and banned its activities.

While interviewing Ablyazov, Mukhammedkarim included a graphic on the YouTube screen showing bank account details to which viewers could send the ex-banker money, ostensibly to fund a campaign to protect the rights of political dissidents. Kazakh prosecutors portrayed this as financing DVK, a banned organization.

Galym Nurpeisov, Mukhammedkarim’s lawyer, told journalists on August 5 that the investigation did not provide evidence of his client’s guilt. Mukhammedkarim himself denies the charges brought against him and considers the case politically motivated. He intends to appeal.

Mukhammedkarim first caught officials’ attention with extensive reporting on the bloody January 2022 events, the most significant instance of political upheaval during independent Kazakhstan’s existence. At least 238 people died in the upheaval. Officials have sought to keep public discussion of the causes, protagonists and aftermath of the January events to a minimum. Mukhammedkarim, however, persisted in interviewing eyewitnesses and relatives of victims, as well as exploring allegations of the torture of those detained during the turmoil. He emerged as a vocal critic of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s administration.

In March 2023, Mukhammedkarim ran for parliament as an independent candidate. He lost his race, and later spent 25 days in jail for an administrativeviolation connected with his one-man protest against election fraud. Local human rights organizations have classified Mukhammedkarim as a political prisoner.