In Kazakhstan, journalist Aigerim Tleuzhan and four activists were sentenced to terms of 4 to 8 years in a penal colony in connection with the seizure of Almaty airport during the January 2022 protests . The verdict was issued by the Specialized Inter-District Criminal Court of Almaty, the Kazakh service of Radio Liberty reports.
Tleuzhan was sentenced to four years in prison.
Activists Kalas Nurpeisov, Nurlan Dalibaev, Yermukhamet Shilibaev and Zhan-Aidar Karmenov were sentenced to eight years in prison.
According to the prosecution, Tleuzhan and Nurpeisov organized riots in the airport building, as well as Nurpeisov and other defendants in the case “attacked the building” of the airport, “stole cars and stole other people’s property.” The defendants themselves pleaded not guilty. They reported that they were present at the airport, but did not make any disturbances.