The Altai district court in the East Kazakhstan region said on December 27 that it had handed a deferred five-year prison term two weeks earlier to a 43-year-old woman on a charge of online calls for separatism. The probe against the woman, whose identity was not disclosed, was launched earlier in the summer after she wrote on Instagram that the East Kazakhstan region "will sooner or later join Russia." The court ruled that the woman, who pleaded not guilty, will start serving her term in 2028 due to having a teenager in her care. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.
