On August 4, 2016, a Kazakh court ordered the early release of Vladimir Kozlov, an activist who has been jailed since 2012 on politically motivated charges. Kozlov was the leader of the Alga! (Forward) opposition party and a prominent human rights advocate. In 2011, he led an advocacy campaign in support of Zhanaozen oil workers whose public protests were violently disbursed by the authorities. As a consequence, Kozlov was charged and found guilty of a “failed attempt to overthrow government,” and “inciting social discord,” for which he was sentenced to seven and a half years.

In January 2015, Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association visited Kazakhstan. In his subsequent report, Kiai issued a critical report, highlighting his meeting with Kozlov in prison and urging the Kazakh government to unconditionally release the political prisoner. After his release, Kozlov credited his early parole to the continued pressure of the European Union, the European Parliament, and non-governmental organizations on his behalf. The World Movement for Democracy welcomes Kozlov’s release, but joins the international community in calling for the release of all civil society activists unjustly detained in Kazakhstan.