An activist who criticised Kazakhstan's leadership on social media was convicted on Monday of spreading false information and banned from taking part in politics for five years. Activist Alnur Ilyashev spent two months in pretrial detention after being arrested on a charge that carried a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. But he will have to keep police informed of his movements for the next three years and will be unable to join parties and other political organisations for the next five years. Ilyashev, 43, wrote on Facebook that the ruling Nur Otan was "a party of crooks and thieves" -- an expression first used by Russian opposition figure Aleksei Navalny to describe the ruling party in Kazakhstan's giant northern neighbour. The activist, who campaigns on civic and environmental rights, is famous for having applied for permission to stage demonstrations more than 30 times and only receiving it once. That sanctioned rally took place last year as new President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev touted an easing of repressive restrictions on freedom of assembly. Ilyashev has also attempted to sue local authorities in the city of Almaty and he picketed the ruling party's office there earlier this year. Nur Otan is chaired by Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has retained significant powers despite allowing hand-picked successor Tokayev to take over the presidency last year. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both called for Ilyashev's release following his arrest. cr-jxb