Kazakh court rejects jailed activist's appeal

A Kazakh court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by a human rights activist who was jailed last month over a road accident in a trial criticised by rights campaigners as politically motivated.

"Leave the sentence... unchanged," judge Yerkhan Totybai-tegi said in court.

Activist Yevgeny Zhovtis was sentenced to four years in prison last month after his car hit a pedestrian who then died. Rights groups said he was denied the right to present a proper defence at the trial.

Kazakhstan's human rights record has come under close scrutiny this year because the ex-Soviet nation will take over the rotating chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010.

Reuters