Sergei Duvanov, a prominent 50-year-old editor of a human rights bulletin and critic of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, was found guilty in January of raping a 14-year-old girl. The opposition said the charges were part of a government crackdown on independent media. The European Parliament last week added its voice to a chorus of protests by Western states and human rights groups, urging Kazakh authorities to release Duvanov who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. But the Government its view was based on biased information.