Aydin Kaptushev

March 25 2022 — translated from original: #IHaveAChoiсe #ActivistsNotExtremists, Oskemen / Ust-Kamenogorsk

The brother of the civil activist Kaptushev Aydin, date of birth 06/17/1979, tells what conditions the activist wounded in the leg is, what excruciating torture he had to endure and how the Semey police officers set him up. From the strongest stress and beatings, Aydin’s head swelled up, he began to forget details and conversations, and he was not provided with proper medical treatment. Brother elaborated:

“My name is Kaptushev Yerbol Zamanbekuly. I am the public defender of my brother Kaptushev Aydin Zamanbekuly. The police detained my brother during a rally in Semey square. I myself was at that moment in the city of Oskemen, and I do not know the details of the events in the city of Semey. Everything I know I learned from a conversation with my brother. The rally was held on January 5; my brother was detained in the square on January 6, 2022. My brother was wounded in the leg by a fragment from a grenade, he was beaten from different sides with batons, and he lost consciousness. He remembers only episodes when consciousness returned to him. Then they continued to beat him so that he would sign a confession. He doesn’t really know how it all happened. According to him, his head at that moment was huge because it was swollen. My brother didn’t even have a chance to raise his head. In this state, he was interrogated. The interrogation documents say that my brother passed a medical examination and that he is healthy. It is not clear whether the lawyer was under interrogation or not. We didn’t see him for a whole month; we didn’t even know where he was. We were not told anything. When my brother was transferred to the pre-trial detention center in Oskemen, we found out where he was through the state lawyer. We cannot hire a private lawyer. I was able to get the status of my brother’s public defender, and only because of this was I able to see him. And from conversations with him, I found out exactly how everything happened in January. My brother was not given medical attention. He was held in custody and tortured. He told me: “You understand everything, how it was. I’d rather not say all the details. But they forced me to admit my guilt. They did a lot with me. The way you see me now is not what you could see at first. My head was very badly hurt.”

A grenade fragment has not yet been recovered from the brother’s leg. I looked at the lawyer’s documents from the interrogation of my brother. The medical status column says “healthy.” I don’t know how they could write that he is healthy. I’ve booked my brother in for an MRI of the head tomorrow. Only on the basis of such a picture can one understand whether he is healthy or not. The brother is like the old man. He forgets a lot. Some things are repeated over and over again. Therefore, he now walks with a notebook and writes down his thoughts. If he doesn’t write, he forgets. The reasons are clear; it’s all from the beatings. I am worried that due to the lack of medical care now, his health may worsen later. He has two minor children. He is the only breadwinner in the house. His wife is now pregnant. They rent a room in hostels. Now he has been fired.

He went to the rally after his shift. My brother has long been a civil activist in the city of Semey. He participated in rallies before that. He went to rallies peacefully to express his dissatisfaction with unemployment and high prices. It was never his intention to destroy, break or burn anything. He had very different goals. If my brother took part in the pogroms on January 5, why would he go there on January 6, 2022? The people who participated in the pogroms had all fled by that time. The police were obliged to protect the building of the Akimat, but according to the stories of people, they did nothing and left. They left the Akimat to its own devices. Among those gathered were people who made riots.

In Oskemen, law enforcement agencies protected the Akimat. They did not let anyone near the Akimat. This was not the case in Semey. Brother was detained not on the riot day but the next day; how did they

prove that he did the riot? I do not understand this. They were able to build all the charges only due to the torture of my brother. My brother is a civil activist, and law enforcement agencies have known him for a long time. If he had such inclinations, he would have organized riots long ago.

According to my brother, he and other people, on the contrary, defended the Akimat. Various people were shouting loudly, calling on people to make a riot. But my brother and peaceful people stopped them. It was not his duty. This is the responsibility of law enforcement. But he did their work for them. If my brother and people like him had not defended the akimat that day, the akimat building would have been completely burned down by morning. Therefore, I believe that all the accusations against my brother have no basis.” 272 part 2, 293 part 2 medical assistance required (concussion, wounded in the leg)