BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 14
Trend:
Former head of Kazakhstan's National Security Committee (NSC) Karim Masimov could be sentenced to 17 years in prison, the country's Prosecutor General Berik Asylov said, Trend reports.
“Based on the legal assessment of the actions of some heads of law enforcement agencies, it was established that on January 5, the heads of two police departments and three departments of the NSC in Almaty city, Almaty, Zhambyl and Kyzylorda regions left their buildings, taking weapons,” Asylov noted.
Moreover, according to him, seven criminal cases were initiated on the mentioned facts, and most of investigative actions on them have been completed.
“The head of the NSC department in Almaty city, Mazhilov, was arrested. For other persons, evidences are being collected and analyzed,” the prosecutor general further said.
“Another criminal case is also being investigated on the fact of abuse of power by the former leadership of the Defense Ministry. The former defense minister was taken into custody. The investigation is ongoing,” added Asylov.
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.