ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Two men have been sentenced for crimes allegedly committed during the mass anti-government protests that engulfed Kazakhstan in January.
The Almaly district court in Almaty, the largest Kazakh city, found Baqyt Ontai and Ozhet Zheniskhan guilty of "theft or extortion of weapons" and sentenced each of them to five years in prison.
They are reportedly the first convictions from the massive unrest that broke out in dozens of cities across Kazakhstan in early January against a fuel-price increase and poor social conditions. At least 227 people were killed as the protests turned violent and were brutally put down by Kazakh security forces.
Aqmaral Baiseitova, Ontai's mother, said police came to her home on January 13 and took her son away.
"I haven't seen my son since then," she said. "Three days later [his court-appointed lawyer] told me he had been charged with stealing weapons.
The men's lawyer, Kuralai Kaliaskarova, said the defendants "fully admitted their guilt and said that they stole weapons from the Alpamys store and hid them in the mountains."
Thousands of people were detained by officials after the January protests, which Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said were caused by thousands of "terrorists" from abroad, a claim for which authorities have thus far provided no evidence.
Several protests have been held by the family and friends of those detained calling for their release as well as an official listing of the names of those killed. Most of the thousands detained have since been released. Many of them say they were beaten or tortured while in detention.
