Kazajstán - Trade union leader hospitalised after vicious attack

Dmitry Senyavskii, leader of the industrial-tier fuel and energy trade union (FEWU) Karaganda Region local branch, was violently attacked on November 10, 2018 at his home in Shakhtinsk by two unidentified assailants. Senyavskii was subsequently hospitalised with serious injuries, including a broken arm and concussion. As a result of the attack, he was unable to travel to Astana for a meeting with representatives of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Arthur Svensson Foundation, which promotes trade union work.

Kazakh authorities have described the assault as a case of random hooliganism; however, it is likely that the attack was politically motivated due to Senyavskii’s union activism, and that it may have been a deliberate attempt to prevent him from travelling to the meeting with the ITUC.
Senyavskii and his family have experienced previous harassment. On 17 October, about a month after Senyavskii returned home from an international trade union gathering in Bosnia and Herzegovina, an unidentified assailant broke his apartment window in the middle of the night. A week later, an unidentified person called his wife, accusing Senyavskii of engaging in extramarital relations during his trip.

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