Kazakh Activist Calls Rearrest Immediately After Serving 15-Day Jail Term 'Politically Motivated'

AQTOBE, Kazakhstan -- A Kazakh activist has been released from jail after serving a 15-day sentence and then immediately rearrested on charges of insulting three women online while commenting on a rally they were attending.

Alibek Moldin, who was sentenced to 15 days in jail on November 8 for staging a protest against what he called China's expansion, was rearrested as he left a detention center on November 22, a court in the northwestern city of Aqtobe said.

Moldin pleaded not guilty.

He said it was true that he broadcast the women's rally for increased benefits for mothers and children in September live via Facebook, but denied he insulted any of them, saying that his arrest was politically motivated and linked to his civil-rights activities.

Judge Temirbek Aldanov adjourned the trial until November 27.