Nearly 8,000 detained in Kazakhstan over violent protests

MOSCOW — Nearly 8,000 radical successful Kazakhstan were detained by constabulary during protests that descended into unit past week and marked the worst unrest the erstwhile Soviet federation has faced since gaining independency 30 years ago, authorities said Monday.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev connected Monday described the unrest that followed initially peaceful protests against rising vigor prices arsenic a “terrorist aggression” against the mineral-rich Central Asian federation of 19 cardinal and dismissed reports that authorities targeted peaceful demonstrators arsenic “disinformation.”

Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry reported that 7,939 radical person been detained crossed the country. The National Security Committee, Kazakhstan’s counterintelligence and anti-terrorism agency, said Monday the concern has “stabilized and is nether control.”

Monday was declared a time of mourning for the victims of the convulsive unrest, which the wellness ministry says killed 164 people, including 3 children.

The demonstrations began connected Jan. 2 implicit a near-doubling of prices for conveyance substance and rapidly dispersed crossed the country, with governmental slogans reflecting wider discontent with Kazakhstan’s authoritarian government.

In a concession, the authorities announced a 180-day terms headdress connected conveyance substance and a moratorium connected inferior complaint increases. As the unrest mounted, the ministerial furniture resigned and the president replaced Nursultan Nazarbayev, erstwhile longtime person of Kazakhstan, arsenic caput of the National Security Council.

One of the main slogans of the past week’s protests, “Old antheral out,” was a notation to Nazarbayev, who served arsenic president from Kazakhstan’s independency until helium resigned successful 2019 and anointed Tokayev arsenic his successor. Nazarbayev had retained important powerfulness astatine the helm of the National Security Council.

Despite the concessions, the protests turned highly convulsive for respective days. In Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, the protesters acceptable the metropolis hallway connected occurrence and stormed and concisely seized the airport. For respective days, sporadic gunfire was reported successful the metropolis streets.

The authorities declared a authorities of exigency implicit the unrest, and Tokayev requested assistance from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a Russia-led subject confederation of six erstwhile Soviet states. The radical has authorized sending astir 2,500 mostly Russian troops to Kazakhstan arsenic peacekeepers.

Tokayev has said the demonstrations were instigated by “terrorists” with overseas backing, though the protests person shown nary evident leaders oregon organization. On Friday, helium said helium ordered constabulary and the subject to sprout to termination “terrorists” progressive successful the violence.

In a connection Monday, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry said the peaceful protests “were hijacked by terrorist, extremist and transgression groups,” including extremist Islamist fighters with combat experience.

Speaking Monday astatine an bonzer virtual acme of CSTO, Tokayev promised to uncover to the satellite “additional evidence” of a “terrorist aggression” against Kazakhstan. He stressed that the demands of peaceful protesters person been “heard and met by the state,” and the unrest that followed progressive “groups of equipped militants” whose extremity was to overthrow the government.

Russian President Vladimir Putin echoed that sentiment, calling the unrest “an enactment of aggression” masterminded from abroad.

“The events successful Kazakhstan are not the archetypal and not the past effort astatine interfering successful the interior affairs of our states from the outside,” Putin said astatine the summit.

The Kazakh president added that “constitutional order” has been restored and the “large-scale anti-terrorist operation” successful the state volition soon wrapper up, on with the CSTO mission.

The overseas militants involved, Tokayev charged aboriginal Monday, came from “mostly Central Asian countries, including Afghanistan,” and immoderate from Mideast nations.

Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee said Monday that “hot spots of violent threats” successful the state person been “neutralized.” The committee besides told Russia’s Interfax quality bureau that authorities released well-known Kyrgyz instrumentalist Vikram Ruzakhunov, whose apprehension implicit his alleged information successful the unrest sparked outrage successful neighboring Kyrgyzstan.

Ruzakhunov was shown successful a video connected Kazakh tv saying helium had flown to the state to instrumentality portion successful protests and was promised $200. In the video, seemingly taken successful constabulary custody, Ruzakhunov’s look was bruised and helium had a ample chopped connected his forehead.

Kyrygzstan’s Foreign Ministry had demanded Ruzakhunov’s release, and the country’s authorities connected Monday sought to unfastened a probe connected charges of torture.

On Monday evening, Ruzakhunov returned to Kyrgyzstan. He told a section TV transmission that helium came to Almaty connected Jan. 2 to sojourn a friend, but respective days later, arsenic the protests turned violent, decided to question backmost to Kyrgyzstan and was detained.

In jail, Ruzakhnunov heard from cellmates that confessing to going to Almaty with the intent of taking portion successful the protests and being offered wealth for it was the quickest mode to get deported home, truthful that’s what helium decided to do.

“It was a way (home), truthful I decided to implicate myself, adjacent though I didn’t bash it,” Ruzakhunov said.