Kazakh opposition leader 'jailed'

Lawyers representing the main opposition leader in Kazakhstan, Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, say he has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment for abuse of offfice while governor of a northern region of the country.

Mr Zhakiyanov, a stern critic of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, founded the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan movement last November.

The new group advocates democratic freedoms, and equal business opportunites for all.

The co-founder of the movement, Mukhtar Ablyazov, was sentenced to six years imprisonment on similar charges last month.

Both men have described the charges as politically motivated.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service