![Kazakh protesters sentenced to 5 years in jail after land unrest](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2016/11/_2/740x404/pic_1480332981.jpg)
Kazakh Protesters Sentenced To 5 Years In Jail After Land Unrest
Muhammad Rameez Published November 28, 2016 | 04:00 PM
![Kazakh protesters sentenced to 5 years in jail after land unrest](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2016/11/_2/740x404/pic_1480332981.jpg)
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Nov, 2016 ) - A court in Kazakhstan Monday convicted two men of sowing unrest around a controversial land reform and sentenced each to five years in jail.
Max Bokaev and Talgat Ayan were both arrested in April as protests against proposed land code amendments rippled across the vast Central Asian country, threatening the 27-year rule of strongman President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The court in the western city of Atyrau found the pair guilty on charges of inciting social tensions and spreading false information during the spring protests, Kazakhstan's supreme court said in a statement.
Their sentences come after another court sentenced beer magnate Tokhtar Tuleshov to 21 years in prison earlier this month for his purported role in masterminding the protests in order to overthrow Nazarbayev.
Tuleshov was already in detention at the time of the land protests, but authorities said the businessman had "inspired and financed" them before his arrest in January. Thousands participated in the countrywide demonstrations against amendments that would have changed the maximum length of leases on land for foreigners from 10 to 25 years.
New York-based Human Rights Watch reported that hundreds of people were detained in the build-up to a planned nationwide protest on May 21. The same organisation last month called on Kazakh authorities to stop the trial of Bokaev and Ayan and free both men.
Nazarbayev, 76, signed off on a moratorium preventing implementation of the land reform through 2021 in a rare concession to political opposition. Nazarbayev's reign has rarely been contested since Kazakhstan gained independence in 1991 and the strongman is the beneficiary of a flowering cult of personality.
This month the national bank announced the issue of bills worth 10,000 tenge (nearly $30) which will bear his image while Nazarbayev himself knocked back a proposal by lawmakers to rename the Kazakh capital Astana in his honour last week.
Land policy is highly sensitive in ex-Soviet Central Asia where many recall the privatisations of the 1990s after the collapse of the USSR with bitterness.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
![Cricket: England v West Indies 3rd Test scoreboard](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019914.jpg)
Cricket: England v West Indies 3rd Test scoreboard
![Finance minister briefs Chinese officials on refor ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019922.jpg)
Finance minister briefs Chinese officials on reform agenda, engagement with IMF
![Finland says Russian vessel violated its territori ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019912.jpg)
Finland says Russian vessel violated its territorial waters
![Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019266.jpg)
Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine
![West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019264.jpg)
West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third Test
![Ukraine court orders detention of suspect in murde ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019262.jpg)
Ukraine court orders detention of suspect in murder of nationalist ex-MP
![Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris ope ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019015.jpg)
Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris opening ceremony
![Rana Sanaullah Khan joins Paris 2024 Olympics inau ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019638.jpg)
Rana Sanaullah Khan joins Paris 2024 Olympics inauguration reception
![Glowing tributes mark 69th birthday of President Z ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019637.jpg)
Glowing tributes mark 69th birthday of President Zardari at Governor's House
![Players unaware of spying scandal as Canada Olympi ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019635.jpg)
Players unaware of spying scandal as Canada Olympic coach sent home: official
![Naqvi hails Pak women cricketers for going down fi ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019013.jpg)
Naqvi hails Pak women cricketers for going down fighting against SL
!['Sabotage' on French rail network before Olympics: ..](https://photo-cdn.urdupoint.com/media/2024/07/_1/235x155/pic_1722019634.jpg)
'Sabotage' on French rail network before Olympics: What we know
More Stories From World
-
Biden talks Gaza ceasefire efforts with king of Jordan
5 hours ago -
Sinaloa Cartel co-founder pleads not guilty after stunning US capture
5 hours ago -
Panama says Venezuela blocked ex-presidents going to observe polls
5 hours ago -
Ethiopia mourns victims of landslide tragedy
6 hours ago -
Khan Yunis fighting displaces 180,000 Gazans in four days: UN
6 hours ago -
Trump slams rivals as he meets Netanyahu in Florida
6 hours ago
-
Obama & his wife, Michelle, officially endorse US VP Kamala Harris for president
6 hours ago -
Rain, cooling slow huge blaze in Canada's Jasper park
6 hours ago -
Airbus and Boeing supremacy secure despite turbulence
6 hours ago -
S.African police detain 95 Libyans at suspected military camp
6 hours ago -
'Slapping therapist' guilty over UK diabetic woman's death
7 hours ago -
Panama says Venezuela blocked flight of ex-presidents going to observe polls
7 hours ago