Activist Alnur Ilyashev. Photo used with permission.On the surface, there have been many changes in Kazakhstan in recent years. On March 19, longtime President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had ruled the country since independence in 1991, stepped down. His successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, promised to liberalise the political space and pursue reforms.Yet the arrest of activist Alnur Ilyashev suggests that freedom of expression remains a distant dream under Kazakhstan’s new president. On June 22, the activist and human rights defender was sentenced to three years of and his sentencing to 3 years o…