Human Rights Watch Issues Commentary: Satire Can be a Crime in Kazakhstan
September 18, 2026
September 18, 2026
NEW YORK, Sept. 18 [Category: International] -- Human Rights Watch issued the following commentary:
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Satire Can be a Crime in Kazakhstan
Another Critic Prosecuted into Silence Amid Crackdown on Freedom of Expression
Mihra Rittmann, Senior Advisor, Central Asia
Satirist and political commentator Azamat Omarov, who had been in pre-trial detention in Kazakhstan since mid-April on "inciting discord" charges, struck a ple . . .
* * *
Satire Can be a Crime in Kazakhstan
Another Critic Prosecuted into Silence Amid Crackdown on Freedom of Expression
Mihra Rittmann, Senior Advisor, Central Asia
Satirist and political commentator Azamat Omarov, who had been in pre-trial detention in Kazakhstan since mid-April on "inciting discord" charges, struck a ple . . .