Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/706/13926
From The Socialist newspaper, 22 February 2012
Kazakhstan: Defend workers' leaders
Stop the repression
Maintain the protests
The trade union movement internationally has condemned threats to leading activists from the independent Kazakhstan trade union Zhanartu.
Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, wrote: "Events on 16 December 2011 in the city of Zhanaozen, when striking oil workers were massacred, shocked the trade union movement worldwide. In the wake of the strike, [Esenbek] Ukteshbayev and [Ainur] Kurmanov, have been on a prolonged tour of Russia. They believe that attempts are afoot to either arrest or abduct them and forcibly remove them to the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan where inevitable arrest and imprisonment await them."
Danish trade union activist and reporter Agneta Persson said: "Any attempt to abduct Esenbek and Ainur, or arrest them - either on the territory of the Russian Federation or in Kazakhstan - will be condemned worldwide. If anything happens to these two workers' leaders, the Nazarbayev and Putin regimes will be held fully responsible."
In a joint statement, Irish Socialist Party TDs (MPs) Clare Daly and Joe Higgins, said: "We seek an assurance that Mr Ukteshbayev and Mr Kurmanov will not be subjected to harassment or to the continual threat of abduction or arrest."
An amendment, moved by Irish Socialist Party MEP Paul Murphy, in the European Parliament, condemning the repression in Kazakhstan and demanding the release of political prisoners was agreed..
Ben Robinson
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In The Socialist 22 February 2012:
Socialist Party youth and students
Main parties have no solution to youth unemployment
Defend education - Join the student walkout
Socialist Party feature
International socialist news and analysis
Romania: Protest movement topples the government
Kazakhstan: Defend workers' leaders
Socialist Party workplace news
Sparks defeat Balfours - now for total victory over BESNA!
Support the workers at MMP packaging
Organising against the cuts in Greenwich
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
800 celebrate life of Rob Windsor, a socialist champion of Coventry's people
Wales: A tale of two conferences
'Capitalism fails the poor' agree Oxford University students!
Portsmouth: Anti-cuts activists present an alternative budget
Gateshead: Children's healthcare under threat
Reviews and readers' comments
Fans not financiers should run football
Should socialists support the proposed HS2 rail link?
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