Watchdog

A Russian court has sentenced two Russian opposition activists -- Sergei Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev – to 4.5 years in prison each.

The Moscow City Court announced the sentences on the evening of July 24 after the same court earlier in the day found both men guilty of organizing mass disorder.

Udaltsov, the coordinator of the Left Front movement, and Razvozzhayev were accused of preparing mass riots in Russian regions and organizing an anti-Putin rally on Moscow's Bolotnaya Square in May 2012 that turned violent and left scores of protesters and police injured.

Razvozzhayev was also accused of illegally crossing the border.

Investigators say the protest was orchestrated by a Georgian politician, Givi Targamadze, who is not in Russia.

The two went on trial in February and pleaded not guilty.

On July 7, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence Udaltsov and Razvozzhayev to eight years in jail each.

Udaltsov has already declared he was going on a hunger strike to protest the court decision.

Based on reporting by Reuters, ITAR-TASS, and Interfax

Several women and their children are continuing a demonstration against the confiscation of their property by the Kazakh government.

The protesters have again gathered in front of the government's building in Astana, on July 24, a day after their demand to meet with presidential office chief Nurlan Nyghmatulin was rejected.

The protesters first gathered in front of the government building on July 23, intending to spend the night there to observe the Islamic Night of Revelation, or Laylat al-Qadr, in protest.

At around midnight, police detained them and kept them at a police station until 3 a.m.

The protesters say local authorities routinely confiscate land from people and justify the move by citing "state necessity," giving little or no compensation.

They said that often the confiscated land is used to build private homes for authorities or businessmen.