BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 22
Trend:
Сonfiscation of illegally stored weapons from citizens continues in Kazakhstan, the Minister of Internal Affairs Yerlan Turgumbayev said, Trend reports on Jan. 22 via the president’s press service.
Turgumbayev made the remark during the meeting of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev with the heads of a number of state bodies. The minister informed Tokayev on the progress of the "Law and order" operational-preventive measure in all regions of the country.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a total of 1,822 criminal cases were initiated on the facts of terrorism, murders, violence against government officials, hooliganism, attacks on government buildings and other crimes, 116 of the cases were transferred to special prosecutors.
The Internal Security Department of the ministry has launched hotlines.
According to the minister, in order to prevent violations of the constitutional rights of detainees, close cooperation has been established with human rights organizations.
Chairman of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan Yermek Sagimbayev informed about measures to neutralize terrorist threats and develop a mechanism to prevent them in the future.
Kazakhstan's government announced late Jan. 4 that it was restoring some price caps on liquefied petroleum gas, after the rare protests reached Almaty following a sharp rise in the price of the fuel at the start of the year.
Many Kazakhs have converted their cars to run on LPG, which is far cheaper than gasoline as a vehicle fuel in Kazakhstan because of price caps. But the government argued that the low price was unsustainable and lifted the caps on Jan. 1.
After the price of the fuel spiked, big demonstrations erupted on Jan. 2 in certain parts of the country. Public protests are illegal in the country unless their organizers file a notice in advance.
Following the development of the situation, the government declared a state of emergency all over the country. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the government initiated anti-terrorist operations to deal with the ongoing riots.
Also, the divisions of the united peacekeeping contingent of CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) arrived in Kazakhstan to assist in restoring order and help protect strategic objects of the country.