In addition to one Muslim on trial in Shymkent, 18 individuals are known to be currently jailed for exercising freedom of religion or belief. All are Sunni Muslim men. A further 11 are serving restricted freedom sentences. A further 12 are under post-jailing bans on specific activity. A further 29 who have completed sentences still have their bank accounts blocked.

 Kazakhs who cannot afford the expense of a wedding often take loans. Banks even advertise special wedding-themed credit.

Strongmen in the Middle East and North Africa will be eyeing warily popular protests, fed by frustration with living standards and an elite perceived as corrupt, that helped push veteran Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and now Sudan's Omar al-Bashir from power.

Campaigners drawing attention to the Xinjiang detentions say Nur-Sultan’s public relations campaign is two-faced.

On March 19, 78 years old Nursultan Äbisjuly Nazarbayev unexpectedly announced his resignation as President of Kazakhstan, referring to the need for “a new generation of leaders”.

Sater helped hide millions in stolen funds in the U.S., including as down payments in Trump Soho, the Kazakhstan bank’s suit claims.

Fugitive Kazakh banker and opposition figure Mukhtar Ablyazov, shown here on his Facebook page, is alleged to have laundered money through the purchase U.S. properties with the help of his son-in-law Ilyas Khrapunov. 

After the abrupt firing of the Kazakh government last week, a new cabinet was immediately approved.

"One question – one answer" – Akezhan Kazhegeldin's information project