Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

A jury threw out the trumped-up charge of extortion against Mr. Kuramshin in August 2012. In September of that year he gave a speech on human rights abuses in Kazakhstan at the OSCE conference in Warsaw, at which the Tánaiste may have been present. On returning to his country, Mr. Kuramshin was again arrested and sentenced by the court - in respect of the same charge of which the jury had previously found him not guilty - to 12 years in prison, which is where he is at present. I again urge the Government to make very strong representations on this matter, about which, unfortunately, the bureaucracy at the top of the EU is conflicted. The EU is courting President Nazarbayev and his regime because it wants to exploit the fabulous mineral resources that Kazakhstan possesses. Shamefully, the EU entertained President Nazarbayev following the arrest of Vadim Kuramshin and my return from Kazakhstan. Unfortunately, a conflict exists in this regard. The Government must fight its Kazakh counterpart in respect of this matter. I ask it to keep me, as a representative in this country of Mr. Kuramshin and others who are engaged in the struggle for human rights in Kazakhstan, informed of progress.

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