Astana, Kazakhstan, June 5
By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:
Several acts of terror were prevented in Kazakhstan in 2013, the country's Deputy Prosecutor General, Andrei Kravchenko said on June 4.
He made the remarks during the plenary meeting of Majlis of Kazakh parliament.
Kravchenko presented the draft law 'On making amendments and additions to some legislative acts of Kazakhstan on the issues of combating extremism and terrorism' during the meeting.
"As an active UN member, Kazakhstan cooperates under the global counter-terrorism strategy. The country has begun to implement a five-year program on countering religious extremism and terrorism since 2013. Under this program, Kazakhstan's special law enforcement agencies prevented several terrorism attempts in 2013 alone," Kravchenko said.
He underscored that over 10 acts of terror have been committed in Kazakhstan in recent years and these acts resulted in 17 employees of law enforcement agencies being killed and four civilians being injured.
Some 57 criminal cases have been initiated on the facts of terrorism in four months of 2014. These cases have been initiated on the facts of advocacy of religious hatred and discord, propaganda of terrorism, leading terrorist groups and participating in their activity and financing extremism and terrorism.
Kravchenko pointed out that around 20 people have been convicted on the abovementioned cases since early 2014.
"Over a hundred cases of participation of our citizens in terrorist activities abroad have been recorded in recent years. Extremist and terrorist structures do not stop attempting to transfer their radical activities to Kazakhstan," the deputy prosecutor general said.
He went on to add that over 500 information materials have been declared extremist materials since 2009, and their import was banned.
Kravchenko stressed that the experts do not rule out the activisation of terrorists and extremists in Central Asia, including in Kazakhstan, after the complete withdrawal of NATO's coalition forces from Afghanistan.
Edited by C.N.