Trial of Xinjiang-focused rights activist begins in Kazakhstan A court in ex-Soviet Kazakhstan holds a first hearing of a case against a Chinese-born activist accused of inciting ethnic discord while opposing Beijing's crackdown in its troubled Xinjiang region. Serikjan Bilash, a naturalised Kazakh citizen born in China, was detained in March before being placed under house arrest. Bilash's supporters -- mostly ethnic Kazakhs born in China -- pack a court in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan and cheer after a judge rules that the case be transferred to a court in Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES