ALMATY. June 13 (Interfax) - Kazakh presidential adviser on political issues Yermukhamet Yertysbayev said the sentences handed out to participants in the December riots in the city of Zhanaozen and in the Shetpe station, Mangistau region of Kazakhstan, are humane.

"According to the presumption of innocence principle, a defendant does not have to prove his innocence. This principle was observed at the Zhanaozen trial. There is another fundamental principle of presumption of innocence: any doubt is interpreted in favor of the accused, not the prosecutors. That was clearly demonstrated at the Zhanaozen trial, where many people were acquitted and many received suspended sentences despite the pogroms [