Kazakhstan Court Reverses Decision: Again Gives Krishna Land to Government

On November 8, 2007, the Supervisory Panel of the Almaty Provincial Court cancelled its previous decision on the transfer of 116-acre Krishna Society farm to Mr. E. Abdykalykov. The court ruled that the land be again returned to the Kazakhstan Government.

This is the second time the court has returned the property to the government of Kazakhstan.

In April 2007, by decision of the provincial court, the property which was legally owned by the Krishna Society was transferred to the state land reserve. This decision was enacted without compensation to the Society.

On October 23, 2007 Abdykalykov presented an appeal to the provincial court to regain ownership of the property.

The panel of judges satisfied his appeal despite his right of appeal having expired twenty-two months earlier. When the land was returned to his ownership he appeared at the Krishna farm demanding the society vacate the territory within one week.

But, during the November 8th hearing, a joint protest of the decision was presented by the prosecutor of Almaty Province and supervisory appeal of the Hakimat (Governor) of  the Karasai District.

The protest was based on new evidence which stated that the disputed 116-acre property was offered, on a lease of five years, to an orphanage for a summer camp.

Abdykalykov was not present on the court hearing. The panel of judges ruled in favor of the government and transferred the land back to the land reserve of the Karasai district.

On November 10, 2007 Abdykalykov became aware of the decision. He explained that he had not been informed of the hearing and still considered himself to be the rightful owner of the property. Karasai District was represented by the Hakimat's hired advocate and Ryskul Zhunisbayeva, the Hakimat's expert on religious issues.

Ms. Zhunisbayeva was last seen leading a migration police raid at the Krishna farm in September. She has also presented inflammatory statements regarding the Krishna Society on the national television.

Her xenophobic attitude to the Krishna followers, and her presence at the hearing, only gave further evidence that the Krishna issue is not an economic dispute, as the government continues to advocate, but is motivated by bigotry against a religious minority.

The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Mr. Karim Masimov, has issued a directive to dismiss Karasai District Hakim BS Kutpanov on charges of corruption related to property deals. Kutpanov is the government official who illegally acted as the plaintiff in every case against the Krishna community.

"The Prime Minister ordered the dismissal of the official responsible for this tragedy, now the government must acknowledge that things have gone terribly wrong in the handling of the Krishna issue, and resolve it fairly with our community," said Shyama Gopal, Krishna spokesperson.  "For three years the government has procrastinated in fairly resolving the issue, now it is time to address it.

The land in question was properly purchased, privatized, and cultivated by the Krishna Society for eight years, and today provides food for the members, and also 30 dairy cows owned by the community.

On that property, forty Kazakh citizens still worship in their small temple, still cultivate the land, and still care for their cows. They do this despite the fact that the government has destroyed twenty-six of their homes and more than 500 members of the Krishna faith from Almaty city and province have been deprived of their place of worship.

"The Kazakh government's new claim that it plans to give children a summer camp for five years is just a smoke screen. After five years, who will camp on it next?" asked Shyama Gopal.