2024-01-07 09:48:00
Who remembers the Botagoz Jardemalie affair? The case – named following this Kazakh lawyer who took refuge in Belgium – caused a stir in the political and legal world in 2019. And for good reason, Ms. Jardemalie was the subject of a curious search on October 1, 2019, the outcome of which is still unclear today.
Since then, the lawyers of Botagoz Jardemalie have been confronted with a new problematic element. They do not hesitate to denounce “new persecutions on the part of Kazakhstan”.
A search that raises questions
A little return to Tuesday October 1, 2019 is necessary to understand this nebulous affair. That day, a group of police officers showed up at Botagoz Jardemalie’s home. The lawyer is not present, unlike members of her family who open the door. There is talk of a search, but the reason is not given. Madame Jardemalie’s relatives ask to see a search warrant. It will never be shown to them. The only known elements: the lawyer is the subject of a criminal investigation. Botagoz Jardemalie, who also campaigns once morest the Kazakh regime, has continued to denounce false accusations emanating from Kazakhstan, which she left in 2009 before being in the crosshairs of the authorities of her country due to her involvement in the defense of certain opponents.
A situation recognized by Belgium, where she has lived under the status of political refugee since 2013. This status does not, however, prevent Belgian justice from being able to investigate if there is suspicion of an offense, which is why the search carried out at Madame Jardemalie’s house was not, in itself, problematic. What raised many questions, however, was that this search was carried out at the request of Kazakhstan and that, during the search of his home, two Russian-speaking individuals, probably linked to the Kazakh authorities, were present. These same authorities who consider Botagoz Jardemalie as an enemy of the regime. However, during this search, confidential documents were seized by investigators. Among the files, names and contact details of activists and political opponents in whose defense Botagoz Jardemalie participates.
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Already at the time, Botagoz Jardemalie’s lawyers explained to La Libre their amazement at such a search. Their fears? That confidential information or information subject to professional secrecy ends up in the hands of the Kazakh regime.
A legal fight has been launched. The Minister of Justice at the time, Koen Geens (CD&V), had also promised that the seized documents would remain protected and that nothing would be transmitted to Kazakhstan while the legal proceedings were ongoing.
Botagoz Jardemalie’s lawyers then took legal action. Initially, as no avenue of appeal was organized, they obtained that the Constitutional Court be questioned on the right to benefit from an appeal. In January 2022, the Constitutional Court said that it would be discriminatory not to allow Botagoz Jardemalie to have access to a Belgian judge to decide whether or not the seizures made at his home fell within the framework of a politically motivated Kazakh criminal proceeding. The case was therefore referred to the indictment chamber for examination of the file.
In November, Madame Jardemalie’s lawyers found themselves before this indictment chamber. They experienced a new curious episode in this nebulous legal saga.
A undermined procedure?
”We were present at the hearing to decide on a timetable for exchanging conclusions when we saw a lawyer present on behalf of the State of Kazakhstan arrive. To our great surprise, we learned, there, live, that this lawyer had been summoned to this hearing,” explain lawyers Christophe Marchand, Ronit Knaller and Dounia Alamat.
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“The presence of Kazakhstan is not provided for by the procedure. The addition of the name of the Kazakhstan lawyer to the file was done manually – without us being informed either by the public prosecutor or by this lawyer – , in violation of the rules of our ethics. In addition, we subsequently noted that a Brussels investigating judge authorized access and the provision of a copy of the file to the Kazakhstan lawyer. Consequence: the Kazakhstan had access to a substantial part of the file and was able to take a copy of it while we are trying to avoid this.”
Why do they consider this presence so problematic? Because Kazakhstan’s lawyer might thus have access to the file, whereas, precisely, the entire procedure in progress aims to prevent the Kazakh authorities from being able to become aware of confidential elements which were seized during the search and are in this file.
“We therefore have a former Minister of Justice who respects the law, and on the other hand, the summoning of this lawyer to the hearing is completely illegal and strange to say the least,” denounces Christophe Marchand. The presence of Kazakhstan is not provided for by the procedure. The addition of the name of the lawyer from Kazakhstan to the file was done manually – without us being notified by the public prosecutor or by this lawyer – in violation of the rules of our ethics. In addition, we subsequently noted that a Brussels investigating judge authorized access and the provision of a copy of the file to the Kazakhstan lawyer. Consequence: Kazakhstan had access to a substantial part of the file and was able to take a copy of it while we are trying, precisely, to protect the fundamental rights of Botagoz Jardemalie. What is happening undermines the entire procedure that we have been carrying out for almost five years”
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“What makes us more perplexed is that Belgium is aware of everything that is being done by the Kazakh authorities to harm our client. She is being spied on by people who did not hesitate to praise the apartment in front of her house to spy on her day and night. Madame Jardemalie was also the victim of computer hacking. Belgium knows all that, and yet look what happens.”
Decision Tuesday January 9
Me Dounia Alamat added: “Since the beginning of this story, Kazakhstan has been trying to reach our client, although she is protected by Belgium. This is a clear case of ‘transnational repression’, where an authoritarian regime crosses its national borders to silence a human rights defender. What is happening gives us the impression that Belgium is, in a way, throwing our client into the den of the wolf. By getting its hands on the information held by the Belgian authorities, Kazakhstan is demonstrating that it can do what it wants, despite the laws, despite existing protections.”
And Mr. Knaller concludes: “What makes us more perplexed is that Belgium is aware of everything that is being done by the Kazakh authorities to harm our client. She is spied on by people who did not hesitate to rent the apartment opposite her house to spy on her day and night. Madame Jardemalie was also the victim of computer hacking. Belgium knows all this, and yet look what is happening. We ask ourselves a question: is our judicial system capable of standing up to a country like Kazakhstan? We feel like we are fighting once morest windmills.”
The indictments chamber will decide on Tuesday January 9, 2024 on the legality of Kazakhstan’s surprise presence in the Belgian proceedings.
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