ASTANA -- Former Kazakh Ecology Minister Nurlan Iskakov has been sentenced to four years in jail after being found guilty of corruption by an Astana court, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.
Iskakov's former deputies, Alzhan Braliev and Zeinolla Sarsembaev, were given suspended sentences of two and three years in jail, respectively.
Iskakov told reporters after the verdict was announced that he plans to appeal the court's decision.
Adilbek Zhailghanov, an official of the company Mercury Plus, was also found guilty and was sentenced to six years in jail.
The former leadership of the Ecology Ministry and Mercury Plus were found guilty of misusing financial resources allocated by the government for recycling technical waste in central Kazakhstan. Several officials from Mercury Plus are in detention.