After 8 months in detention, an Almaty court jailed 40-year-old independent Orthodox priest Fr Yakov Vorontsov for 4 years on drug-related charges on 7 October after a closed trial. "In the house where I lived, they planted prohibited substances," Fr Yakov wrote from prison. "I was accused of storing synthetic drugs, which I never used and never touched." He has appealed. Police Investigator Daniyar Kametov, who led the investigation, refused to comment. Fr Yakov criticised Russia's war against Ukraine and twice tried to register his independent Orthodox parish.
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