HRW urges Ukraine, Kazakhstan to investigate kyiv shooting of Kazakh opposition blogger

June 21. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the authorities of Ukraine and Kazakhstan to investigate the shooting that occurred in Kiev last Tuesday against the prominent Kazakh opposition blogger Aydos Sadykov, who was hospitalized seriously in a hospital in the Ukrainian capital, where He has been there since 2014 after being granted the right to asylum.

“The news of the attack on Sadykov in broad daylight in the city center of kyiv is deeply worrying. Ukrainian authorities must ensure Sadykov’s safety, identify the attacker, bring him to justice and determine who ordered the attack. Kazakhstan should demonstrate its commitment to the rule of law during this process,” said HRW Europe and Central Asia director Hugh Williamson.

The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine announced that it had opened an investigation for attempted murder and the president of Kazakhstan himself, Kasim Yomart Tokayev, assured that he would collaborate with it.

Natalia Saykova, the blogger’s wife, has denounced that Tokayev is behind the shooting of someone who “has always defended the interests of the Kazakhs”, and has assured that both had received numerous threats for “covering political events in their homeland.”

“Journalists must be able to carry out their work without fear of reprisals. This can have a chilling effect on many others who criticize the authorities or express their discontent, leaving them to live in fear,” Williamson added.

Sadykov was sentenced in 2010 to two years in prison for “hooliganism”, at which time he was an activist who organized numerous demonstrations. After leaving prison in 2012, both he and his wife began running a YouTube channel in which they criticized the country’s authorities. In October 2023, the Kazakh Justice issued a search and arrest warrant for his support of the January 2022 protests.

It should be noted that his latest video, published a day ago, is titled “The president of Kazakhstan has become a puppet of Russian influence agents.”