The European Union on Saturday hailed the release from jail of Vladimir Kozlov, a political activist in energy-rich Kazakhstan jailed in 2012 on charges of stirring deadly unrest in the authoritarian country. Kozlov, who led the now-dissolved Alga! opposition group, was released Friday on parole, after spending four years and eight months in jail.
The release is "positive news", a statement by the office of the EU spokesperson said. "Further steps should now follow," including release of other activists, it said. Kozlov, who had always argued his innocence, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail in October 2012, blamed for stirring a 2011 oil workers' strike in the western oil town Zhanaozen which ended with at least 15 deaths.
The shooting of workers in the town by government troops was the first incident of major political violence since the Central Asian country's independence in 1991. Once viewed as a beacon of stability in an occasionally volatile region, Kazakhstan has witnessed growing political unrest on the back of the collapse in the price of crude oil.