Günter Nooke, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid at the Federal Foreign Office, issued the following statement on the conviction of the Kazakh human rights activist Yevgeny Zhovtis for “vehicular manslaughter” by a court of first instance, which sentenced him to four years in a penal colony:

“We have reason to believe that due to serious shortcomings, Yevgeny Zhovtis did not have a fair trial and that he wrongly received a severe custodial sentence. I call for the proceedings to be conducted in accordance with rule of law standards. We will closely follow further developments in this case, not least in view of Kazakhstan’s OSCE Chairmanship next year.”

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