Eleven of the 19 convicts received five-year prison terms on charges of 'social discord', while the rest were given non-custodial 'restriction of freedom' sentences. All defendants were banned from engaging in public or political activities for three years. The trial was held under tight security restrictions, with reporters denied access to the courtroom and told to follow proceedings via a live video link. The protesters were arrested after the Chinese consulate in Almaty urged Kazakh authorities to 'take appropriate measures'.
The defendants are associated with the Atajurt movement, an unregistered group documenting alleged rights abuses against ethnic Kazakhs and Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Videos from the November protest showed demonstrators burning the Chinese flag and a portrait of Xi Jinping, chanting slogans against the Chinese leader, and demanding the release of Alimnur Turganbay. The protest demanded the release of Alimnur Turganbay, an ethnic Kazakh detained in Xinjiang in July last year. Guldariya Sherizat, Mr. Turganbay's wife, said she protested to demand her husband's freedom because he was 'not guilty of anything'.
Human Rights Watch said Kazakh authorities have long misused the vague and overly broad offence of 'inciting discord' to suppress dissent. China stands accused by Western countries and rights groups of committing 'crimes against humanity' against Uyghur Muslims and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang over the past decade. The US and other Western nations have labelled China's policies as a 'genocide', a claim Beijing has denied as 'the lie of the century'. Rights groups have accused Chinese authorities of punishing Uyghurs and Kazakhs with foreign links, detaining those with family in or who have visited '26 sensitive countries', including Kazakhstan.