ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — Colleagues of a respected human rights advocate in Kazakhstan say he has been granted amnesty after serving more than half of a four-year jail sentence for manslaughter.
The Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights said Wednesday that Yevgeny Zhovtis will be released from prison in two weeks.
Zhovtis was sentenced in 2009 to four years in prison for a road accident that killed a pedestrian.
The trial was seen by many as politically motivated and drew wide international criticism. He was repeatedly denied parole.
Zhovtis drew plaudits from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for his efforts in advancing rights issues in Kazakhstan when she visited the former Soviet Central Asian nation in 2010.
