AKIPRESS.COM - A political activist in Kazakhstan, who has been jailed on charges that human rights groups have condemned as being trumped up because of his opposition to the country's president, has been released after he issued an apology.

Serikzhan Mambetalin was convicted along with Yermek Narymbayev over posts they made on Facebook.

They were arrested in October 2015 over the posts that authorities had claimed contained signs of "inciting national discord and offended the honour and dignity of the Kazakh nation". Mambetalin was freed yesterday (31 January 2016) after serving just over a week of his two-year sentence, Eurasianet has reported. Narymbayev remains in prison serving a three-year sentence.

Membetalin said he had taken to Facebook because, "our opposition parties have been closed down, our independent media outlets have been shut, and protests and demonstrations have been banned".

Mambetalin was released pending an appeal and came after he posted statement of repentance on his Facebook page on 29 January, which read: "The investigation gathered exhaustive evidence of my guilt. Therefore I fully admit my guilt over the proof presented to me and actively repent."

In January, human rights campaigners in Kazakhstan called for the abolition of legislation frequently used against critics of President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

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2 Kazakh activists sentenced to 3 and 2 years in prison for online commentary