On 7 April the court of Astana sentenced Nurbek Kushakbayev to two-and-a-half years in a corrective labour colony for organising protests of Oil Construction Company (OCC) workers against the dissolution of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The judge has also satisfied the OCC’s demand to collect KZT 25 million (US$80,000) from Kushakbayev for alleged harm caused to the company. OCC management started mass layoffs of employees who participated in the protests. The OCC is a part of KazMunaiGas, the largest state oil and gas company in Kazakhstan.