Mongolie

More leaders of Kazakhstan's beleaguered opposition were imprisoned after holding an unsanctioned protest rally in Almaty today. OSDP party co-leader Bolat Abilov received an 18-day sentence, and 15-day terms were handed to deputy leader Amirzhan Kosanov and the party's Almaty boss Amirbek Togusov. "We have just left court and are on our way to prison," Kosanov told EurasiaNet.org by telephone late on January 28. OSDP had organized the morning rally to protest against the results of the January 15 parliamentary election, won with a landslide by President Nursultan Nazarbayev's party. OSDP won 1.7 percent of the vote, leaving them outside parliament after they failed to clear the electoral threshold. Opposition leaders and international observers said the vote was rigged. Astana denies electoral fraud. At the rally, leaders protested over the election results and demanded a fair investigation into the shooting of protestors in Zhanaozen on December 16. Authorities have announced that five police officers will be prosecuted over the deaths. Kosanov linked the leaders' imprisonment to their public discussion of Zhanaozen at the protest, for which they did not have the legal permission required under Kazakh law.  "Today we brought up what is the most painful subject for the authorities--Zhanaozen," Kosanov said, accusing Astana of seeking "to create an atmosphere of fear" to intimidate the public. read more