A witness in the case related to deadly clashes between striking oil workers and police in the western Kazakh town of Zhanaozen has been found dead.



The head of Kazakhstan's Liberty nongovernmental organization, Ghalym Ageleuov, told journalists that Aleksandr Bozhko, who had testified that investigators had tortured him and forced him to testify against the defendants in the case, was murdered.



Ageleuov did not provide any details on when and in what circumstances Bozhko was killed.



In June, 13 people were sentenced to jail terms of between three and seven years for inciting the Zhanaozen violence, in which police shot dead at least 16 people during rioting in December.



Human rights activists and opposition politicians condemned the court’s ruling, saying the defendants’ rights were abused.





Based on reporting by KazTAG and ZonaKZ