Russia is far from alone in the neighborhood in its staging of show trials and corralling of political prisoners, and in fact, what is happening to human rights advocate Yevgeny Zhovtis of Kazakhstan, shows an measurably deeper level of political interference.

Today began the first day of the criminal trial in a village outside of Almaty against Zhovtis, who is the director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, one of the most authoritative and well regarded civil society organizations still operating under the government of  Nursultan Nazarbayev.  After having spent the better part of an hour on the telephone with one of Zhovtis’s brave defense lawyers (see below), I strongly believe that those who care about human rights in Central Asia should follow this case carefully.

As we reported on this blog back in July, Zhovtis was involved in a mysterious accident as he was driving home from a fishing trip at night:  on a deserted stretch of highway, two cars on the approaching hill blinded him with high-beam headlights, and then seconds later, a man appeared on the road in front of Zhovtis’s car, and was struck and instantly killed. He is now facing charges of manslaughter and traffic violations, carrying a penalty of up to five years.