Oilworkers jailed for between three and seven years

Scenes of mass distress and anger erupted at a crammed courthouse in Zhanaozen on 4 June. Vicious sentences were pronounced against oil-workers and their supporters, allegedly for causing the mayhem in their town on 16 December last year. As we have reported on this site, it was the forces of the state who murderously attacked a peaceful gathering of striking oil-workers and their supporters, killing as yet unknown numbers.
Reports say that 13 are being jailed, one whose sentence is yet to be confirmed. The person to serve the longest term in prison - seven years - is a woman, Roza Tuletayeva.
As Reuters reports, “After the last sentences were passed, a crowd of female relatives, many of them wailing, tried to break through a police cordon to reach the glass box where the accused were held. Some of the guilty pounded on the glass from within. ‘Where’s the truth? Where’s the justice? The authorities have led us all to this tragedy,’ an elderly woman screamed. Roza was accused of being one of the main instigators of the violence. Her mother, in tears, was quickly led away from the court by relatives.” Three women were seen by reporters being carried out of the court after fainting.
For full report click here.
For film of the scenes at the courtroom click here.