Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), welcomed the decision by a court in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, to release human rights defender Yevgeniy Zhovtis, but expressed concern about the continuing clampdown on opposition activities in Kazakhstan in the wake of December’s violence in Zhanaozen and parliamentary elections held in January.

“The decision to release Zhovtis is a positive step. But we are worried about the further tightening of the already substantial restrictions on fundamental freedoms that marked the recent parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan,” Lenarcic said.

Lenarcic also urged the authorities to conduct full, transparent and independent investigations into the Zhanaozen events and allegations of irregularities during the recent parliamentary elections, The OSCE said in a press release.

Zhovtis, a member of the ODIHR Panel of Experts on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, was convicted in September 2009 to four years in prison for his involvement in a car accident that led to the death of a pedestrian.