By empty (9/10/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)
The OSCE office in Kazakhstan issued a statement in Almaty on 7 September expressing doubt that the jail sentence handed down the previous day to former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin conforms to international standards of justice. Kazhegeldin was sentenced in absentia to 10 years imprisonment on charges of abuse of office, tax evasion, taking bribes, and illegal possession of weapons. The OSCE noted that trying a defendant in absentia may violate the principle of equality before the law, and that "there are certain doubts" that the presumption of innocence was fully observed during the trial.The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst is a biweekly publication of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, a Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council, Washington DC., and the Institute for Security and Development Policy, Stockholm. For 15 years, the Analyst has brought cutting edge analysis of the region geared toward a practitioner audience.
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