On September 8, five men were sentenced to between five and five-and-a-half years in prison after standing trial in an Almaty courtroom for supposedly attempting to seize control of power in Kazakhstan last year. The judges found all five suspects guilty not only of advocating for the violent seizure of power, but also of organizing mass unrest against authorities in the country and a seizure of the presidential residence, known as Akorda.

Several of the convicted have a past in activism, having taken part in multiple civil protests in the country over the years. While doors were closed for the hearings, the case sparked some attention from both activists and national human rights organizations. Along with criticizing the verdict, focus was also given to similar cases that had targeted activists previously. These types of court cases, activists argue, are part of a strategy employed by the Kazakh government to control opposition in the country.

While all of the defendants, aged between 56 and 62, were found guilty of advocating for mass riots and the seizure of power in Kazakhstan, two were found to have committed additional offenses. Kaisar Ozbek and Talgat Ashirov were convicted of illegally acquiring and storing explosives in relation to the unrest. These charges originally led the state prosecutor to request eight years in prison for each of the defendants.

When the trial began in February, the five men all entered not guilty pleas to all of the charges. Speaking with RFE/RL at the start of the trial, lawyers representing two of the defendants stated that their clients were simply ordinary people coerced into committing crimes.

Zhanara Balgabaeva, lawyer of one of the defendants, claimed that security forces made use of plants who pretended to share the activists’ views, then provoked them into committing crimes. “The civil activists, under the influence of these provocateurs, engaged in destructive conversations and activities of which my client was unaware,” she told RFE/RL.

She further criticized the decision to let the trial run behind closed doors, citing concerns for the rule of law: “They [the courts] don’t want transparency. They want to quickly shut everyone down without any fuss.”

This newest case taps into a trend of activists being accused of attempting to incite mass unrest or directly seize power in Kazakhstan. Such charges have now landed at least 17 people in prison since 2024. The Kazakhstan International Bureau of Human Rights and Rule of Law has questioned the neutrality of the country’s judicial system as a result. They suspect that the cases are a tactic employed by the Kazakh authorities to silence political adversaries.

The best known instance is often referred to as “the tractor case” due to the court claim that the seven charged activists planned to drive a tractor into Akorda in 2022. This supposedly would have been done in order to cause unrest in the country in an effort to seize power.

Another such case was presented in court just last year. In that case, five activists were sentenced to four years of restricted freedom for allegedly attempting to organize mass unrest in the country in relation to the referendum on the use of nuclear power in 2024. As suspects were interrogated in relation to this case, one defendant later stated that he was asked about their intention to seize control of Akorda in connection to the supposed plans of mass unrest.

Similar to the most recent case of an alleged plan to seize power, these previous incidents also included defendants of retirement age accused of planning mass unrest. Zhanara Balgabaeva, who has had a client in all three abovementioned cases, has also previously criticized the way evidence had been collected, pointing to some of it being acquired through provocations.

“In the ‘tractor case,’ when we were defending our clients, we said that any actions carried out through provocations are not admissible as evidence. Now we are seeing the same thing,” the lawyer stated in relation to the case surrounding the nuclear referendum.

With the recent verdict against five activists, Kazakhstan has now imprisoned activists for allegedly planning unrest for the third straight year, prompting both lawyers and human rights organizations to call foul play. Whether their criticism will have any effect on the Kazakh judicial system going forward remains to be seen.