Three Kazakhs jailed for spreading terrorist ideas via WhatsApp
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 11 August 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Three Kazakhs jailed for spreading terrorist ideas via WhatsApp, 11 August 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/57db99e628.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. |
August 11, 2016
By RFE/RL's Kazakh Service
AQTOBE, Kazakhstan – A Kazakh court has jailed three men for inciting social and religious hatred via their mobile phones.
A court in the northwestern city of Aqtobe found the men guilty on August 11 of "spreading terrorist ideas" using the WhatsApp application on their smartphones and sentenced them to prison terms between 6 1/2 and eight years.
The convicted men's lawyers said the verdicts will be appealed.
Aqtobe is an industrial city of some 380,000 people located 100 kilometers from the Russian border.
It made headlines in June after some 25 suspected Islamic radicals killed five civilians and three members of Kazakhstan's security forces in the city.
Security forces killed 18 gunmen and arrested seven alleged attackers.
Aqtobe also was the site of Kazakhstan's first-ever suicide bombing 2011.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website