Reference: Zhasaral Kuanyshalin is an oppositionist, leader of the "Zhasa, Azattyk!" In the mid-1990s, he was a Deputy of the Supreme Council of Kazakhstan. In 2006, he was accused of encroaching on the honor and dignity of the president and sentenced to two years in prison, released under an amnesty in the courtroom.
In 2010, Zhasaral Kuanyshalin announced his intention to run for president in the 2012 elections. At the same time, the leader of the unregistered "Alga!" Vladimir Kozlov, also announced his intention to run for president. After that, he was attacked by a group of Kazakh nationalists who said that Kozlov, as a Russian by nationality, supposedly had no right to join the presidential election.