By Raushan Nurshayeva
A Kazakh businessman was sentenced to 21 years in prison on Monday on charges including plotting a coup against veteran President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Tokhtar Tuleshov, best known for running Shymkentpivo, one of the former Soviet republic’s largest breweries, was subjected to a closed trial before a military court in the capital Astana, and reporters were only allowed to hear the verdict.
His detention in January raised eyebrows in the oil-rich nation as observers found it hard to believe a medium-tier businessman could plan and lead a coup against Nazarbayev, in power since 1989.
At the same time, unusually for a Kazakh …read more
Source: Cyprus Mail
