The demonstrations began due to the increase in the price of gas.
This Saturday the Kazakhstan Prosecutor General’s Office reported that 225 people were killed and more than 4,500 were injured in the violent protests that shook the country last week and that the Kazakh security forces repressed in an “anti-terrorist” operation.
Among the dead there are “armed bandits” who participated in the attacks against official buildings and against agents of the security forces, in addition to 19 policemen and soldiers and civilians, the head of the Criminal Procedure Service of the Office said at a press conference. of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Kazakhstan, Serik Shalabaev.
The 225 corpses were “transported to the country’s morgues,” he said to justify this figure in the official count. The latest official data still collected 164 deaths.
Shalabaev indicated that so far “4,578 victims have also been identified, of which 4,353 were injured, including 3,393 members of the security forces and bodies.”
The president of Kazakhstan, Kasim-Yomart Tokáyev, wrote yesterday, Friday, on Twitter that during “the tragic events of January” – which broke out on the 2nd of the rise in the price of liquefied gas, used in the country as a cheap alternative to gasoline – and the consequent state of emergency, “approximately 2,000 people were arrested for different crimes”.
However, the count provided by the authorities amounted to more than 10,000 detainees so far.
The protests, fueled by social discontent with the country’s political and economic elite and corruption, turned into riots a few days after they broke out.
The Kazakh authorities have justified their decision to forcibly quell the protests, due to the alleged presence of 20,000 insurgents, international terrorists and armed bandits who, according to Tokayev, tried to carry out a coup.
So far the Kazakh president has not presented evidence for his claims.
“Those who committed serious crimes will be punished according to the law,” he wrote in English on his account, in which he assured that he would distinguish between violent and peaceful protesters.
“As for the others, I have instructed the Attorney General’s Office to determine the nature and responsibility of their crimes. In the event that it is established that there are no aggravating circumstances, we will take measures to mitigate the sanction,” the president promised.
The Prosecutor’s Office said today that it is investigating 546 criminal cases in the context of the protests, including 44 for alleged acts of terrorism, 34 for riots and 15 for homicide.
A total of 672 criminal suspects are in temporary detention centers.
Some 100 people were released due to lack of evidence against them, Shalabaev added. (I)
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