A Kazakh court...sentenced a trade union leader to two years in prison on politically motivated embezzlement charges, Human Rights Watch said...[T]he trade unionist, Amin Yeleusinov, 55, is banned from engaging in any trade union activities for five years, will have any “illegally obtained property” confiscated, and must pay US$26,300 in damages. Yeleusinov’s conviction is the latest development in an ongoing crackdown on independent labor movement in Kazakhstan, Human Rights Watch said.The targeting of Yeleusinov for prosecution appears to be motivated by the government’s discontent over protests in western Kazakhstan in January. Oil Construction Company workers staged a hunger strike against the closure of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Kazakhstan, after which Yeleusinov and his colleague, Nurbek Kushakbaev, were arrested.