Kosharbay Toremuratov. Photo from social media
Karakalpak activist Kosharbay Toremuratov, who spent about a year in pre-trial detention in Almaty, has been granted asylum in Poland. He received official notification of this status on January 20, according to the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (THFHR).
Toremuratov was one of five ethnic Karakalpaks living in Kazakhstan who were detained in the fall of 2022 at Uzbekistan's request and spent nearly a year in detention. After their release, four others—Jangeldy Jaksymbetov, Tleubike Yuldasheva, Raisa Khudaybergenova, and Ziuar Mirmanbetova—were granted asylum in the United States.
According to human rights activist Vitaly Ponomarev, Toremuratov had been living in Kazakhstan since 2006, where he helped organize the Karakalpak diaspora in Almaty. Between 2014 and 2018, he served a prison sentence in Uzbekistan, after which he returned to Kazakhstan and resumed his activism.
After being released from detention in Almaty, Toremuratov moved to Europe, where he applied for asylum. In September 2023, a court in Nukus sentenced him in absentia to 5 years and 1 month in a high-security prison for a YouTube video about a demonstration by supporters of the banned extremist movement «Alga Karakalpakstan."
In early July 2022, protests erupted in Karakalpakstan against proposed amendments to Uzbekistan’s Constitution that would have stripped the republic of its sovereignty. According to official data, 21 people were killed and about 300 injured during the unrest, including law enforcement officers and military personnel. A total of 171 individuals were charged in connection with the protests. Some defendants received sentences ranging from 3 to 16 years, while others were given restricted freedom.
Several activists living outside Uzbekistan, including the so-called «Almaty Five,» were also suspected of involvement in organizing the unrest. Their asylum applications in Kazakhstan were denied.
