Ethnic Russian pleads not guilty to hate charge in Kazakhstan
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 12 January 2015 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Ethnic Russian pleads not guilty to hate charge in Kazakhstan, 12 January 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/54be145c1d.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
January 12, 2015
By RFE/RL's Kazakh Service
An ethnic Russian Kazakh citizen charged with inciting ethnic hatred over derogatory references to Kazakhs and calls for the country to become part of Russia has pleaded not guilty.
Tatyana Shevtsova-Valova entered her plea on January 12 in a court in Almaty.
The judge then adjourned the trial until January 23 because Shevtsova's lawyer was not present.
Investigators say that in posts in social networks, Shevtsova-Valova called Kazakhs "churki" – an offensive word sometimes used by Russians to describe non-Slavic peoples in Central Asia and the Caucasus – and wrote that Kazakhstan must become part of Russia, like Crimea.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine last March in a move denounced as illegal by Kyiv and the West.
Moscow's annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine have raised concerns about the Kremlin's intentions in Kazakhstan, whose northern regions have large ethnic Russian minorities.
Shevtsova-Valova told journalists after the hearing that somebody else wrote the statements attributed to her on the Internet.
If found guilty, she could be sentenced to seven years in prison.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website