Bolat Atabaev

Bolat Atabaev (15 May 1952 – 28 July 2021) was a Kazakhstani theater director who in 2012 was charged with "inciting social discord" for his role in the 2011 Mangystau riots. Amnesty International designated him a prisoner of conscience. He was released on 3 July 2012.

Atabaev publicly protested the use of lethal force against the protesters. In March, he also staged a play in Almaty which dealt with the Zhanaozen events indirectly.

Criminal charge On 6 January 2012, the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NSC) charged Atabaev with "inciting social discord" for his role in the protests. He was later released on bail.

In early June, Atabaev refused to report for an interrogation, which the court had made a condition of his bail. On 14 June, the court authorized his arrest, and he was arrested by the NSC the following day. Atabaev stated that he had "refused to go for interrogation so as to protest against the charges brought against him and to highlight the injustice of the government's treatment of protesters and striking workers in Zhanaozen." Anti-censorship group ARTICLE 19 described the charge as "spurious" and "alarming", warning that the arrests of Atabaev and others would have "a chilling effect on freedom of expression in Kazakhstan".

The German government called for his release, with Human Rights Commissioner Markus Loening describing Atabaev as "guilty of only using his constitutional right of free expression". German film director Volker Schlöndorff, a friend of Atabaev's, also appealed to the Kazakh government on his behalf.

Recognition In August 2012, Atabaev was awarded the Goethe Medal of Germany's Goethe-Institut, a prize of the German government for non-citizens for artistic contributions. That same year, he spoke at the Oslo Freedom Forum in San Francisco, where he screened footage from Zhanaozen and proposed founding an Abai-inspired civic initiative.