AQTOBE, Kazakhstan -- A court in Kazakhstan's northwestern city of Aqtobe has sentenced three young men convicted of planning to blow up a local liquor factory for "insulting Islam."
The three received prison terms between three and five years Tuesday.
Last year, the liquor plant's director had to apologize for printing the slogan "The power of Allah suffices for all" in Arabic on vodka bottles.
The apology was made after Kazakhstan’s Islamic clergy protested, saying such an inscription on alcoholic products is unthinkable in mainly Muslim Kazakhstan because of Islam's prohibition on drinking spirits.
The convicted three, who are 17, 18, and 19 years old, pleaded not guilty.
Their relatives told RFE/RL that the three teenagers had been framed by undercover security-service agents.
The three received prison terms between three and five years Tuesday.
Last year, the liquor plant's director had to apologize for printing the slogan "The power of Allah suffices for all" in Arabic on vodka bottles.
The apology was made after Kazakhstan’s Islamic clergy protested, saying such an inscription on alcoholic products is unthinkable in mainly Muslim Kazakhstan because of Islam's prohibition on drinking spirits.
The convicted three, who are 17, 18, and 19 years old, pleaded not guilty.
Their relatives told RFE/RL that the three teenagers had been framed by undercover security-service agents.
