05.08.2013, Astana
Source: Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty
ASTANA - Kazakhstan's Supreme Court has refused to review
the case of jailed opposition leader Vladimir
Kozlov.
At a session on August 5, Supreme Court Judge Moryak
Shegenov ruled that "there are no grounds" to do so.
Kozlov's wife, Aliya Turysbekova, told RFE/RL that Kazakh
human rights defenders and lawmakers from Poland and Italy were
present at the hearing.
The leader of the unregistered Algha (Forward) party, Kozlov
was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison in October 2012 for his role
in the mass strike by oil workers in western
Kazakhstan.
The strike ended in violence in December 2011, when police
shot dead 17 people in the towns of Zhanaozen and
Shetpe.
Kozlov insists the case against him is politically
motivated.