Head of the Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan Seytkazy Matayev appealed to the UN Committee Against Torture

Almaty. October 11. Silkroadnews – On October 9, the chairman of the board of the Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan Seytkazy Matayev appealed to the UN Committee against torture due to his state of health and persistent ignoring of medical judgments by the court system representatives, the Kazakh Telegraph Agency (KazTAG) reports referring to Tamara Kaleeva, president of International foundation for protection for freedom of speech “Adil Soz”.
State of health of S.Matayev is still a subject of concern. He suffers from high blood pressure, moreover, with the diagnosis of “III-degree hypertension, risk IV, hypertensive crisis", needs a surgery. At present S. Matayev is held in medical unit of LA 155/14 facility. However, when considered a petition to replace the penalty on July 19, 2017, the judge of the Kapshagai City Court Zh. Zhanbolatov paid no attention to the journalist’s state of health and need in surgery on kidneys and brain, having completely ignored the forensic medical examination and other documents. Moreover, the judge refused to invite the attending physician to the hearing, arguing that S. Matayev’s state of health was not a subject of discussion of the petition to replace the penalty. The experts’ conclusion was also ignored by the judge of the appeal court of the Almaty regional court Mr. Zhantasov, although the lawyers tried to draw his attention to the issue in the course of the court session on September 19, 2017. There is no other word for this as a torture.
“My appeal to the members of the UN Committee against torture is explained by the declaration of observance of human rights proclaimed by the UN, especially in places of detention. Being a member to UN Kazakhstan has signed and ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention against Torture, other international covenants and treaties and has undertaken to strictly observe the provisions of the documents mentioned to prevent their violations on the territory of any UN member country,” the agency quoted him saying.
He also pointed out specific facts of violations of his rights to health and life.
“I have been in custody since February 22, 2016. Since that time my state is characterized as a potential stroke condition as confirmed by the city cardiology center in Almaty, where I was urgently hospitalized in February and April 2016. There is also a medical report of experts from the Forensic Medicine Center (No.71, May 6, 2016), National scientific center for oncology and transplantation under the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan (No. 4419, August 23, 2016), Central Railway Hospital (№8152, September 12, 2016). The “III-degree hypertension, risk IV, hypertensive crisis” diagnosis is confirmed by the experts of the highest qualification category”, S. Matayev said.
“My 20-month detention (from February 22, 2016, to the present) is a violation of human rights and a real torture. Despite the diagnosis and the medical report of the experts, I cannot get a qualified medical assistance in surgery and restoring my health, undermined by the detention and prolonged imprisonment in the penal system facilities,” the agency quoted him saying.