Kazakh Muslim NGO Leader Detained
By RFE/RL's Kazakh Service
Last updated (GMT/UTC): 04.06.2013 13:20
ALMATY -- The leader of the nongovernmental organization Union of Kazakhstan's Muslims, Murat Telibekov, has been sentenced to seven days in jail.
The Almaty city police department announced that Telibekov was arrested on June 4 and sentenced the same day for violating the law on public gatherings.
Telibekov's wife, Yekaterina Chekanova, said earlier that her husband and his supporters were planning to gather in front of the Almaty mayor's office later on June 4.
They planned to call on Mayor Akhmetzhan Yesimov to discuss social issues faced by the residents of Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city.
The police department said Telibekov was detained after an Almaty resident reported that Telibekov had called him to take part in an "illegal public event."
With reporting by Interfax and Tengrinews
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