More than 4,000 people were injured during the January unrest in Kazakhstan, including 3,500 security personnel involved in maintaining law and order, 230 were killed, including 19 police and law enforcement officers, the Kazakh authorities said in an update on the January 14 tragedy Events.
Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan Berik AsilovMinister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Marat AkhmetjanovIn addition, representatives of a number of state agencies and public bodies have presented information on the investigation, which may change as the investigation into the tragic January incident continues in a plenary session of the Majlis of Parliament.
Regarding the number of cases and detainees, the authorities said that the investigating parties are conducting 3,770 pre-trial investigations. These include terrorism and riot cases, robbery, theft, arms theft and violence against law enforcement officials.
They noted that 2,919 criminal cases were being investigated by internal affairs agencies. 184 people have been kept in custody. Authorities say 766 people are currently in custody on various charges. Of these, 19 are citizens of foreign countries, including Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
To ensure the rights of detainees, the prosecutor general said that 243 criminal cases of torture and abuse of power have been registered, while 9 people have been arrested, 8 employees of the National Security Committee and one police officer.
According to the head of the anti-corruption department, Oljas Bektenov, Out of 243 cases, 234 criminal cases are being investigated by his agency against law enforcement officers. Criminal cases against law enforcement officers are, as a rule, investigated by other law enforcement agencies to avoid possible conflicts of interest.
Chair of Human Rights in Kazakhstan Elvira Azimova It is learned that 302 people have been released from the pre-trial detention center. 137 allegations of torture and abuse were found.
According to Azimova, the preventive measures were changed for the 200 citizens who had previously been arrested. The detainees were dropped for 11 citizens. Of the 29 juveniles charged with serious offenses, 28 were released on parental guarantees.
Ayman OmarovaHuman rights activist and head of the Akikat Public Commission has suggested amendments to the Criminal Code, including the word “coercive extremism”, which describes people being drawn into terrorist activities by threatening or using force against their will.
Eligible medical assistance is provided to the suspects in custody at the Pre-Trial Detention Center.
Regarding the recovered weapons, Akhmetjanov said that more than 2,800 weapons were stolen during the unrest. Two thousand weapons are still in the hands of criminals. 61 weapons were recovered.
As for business and property damage, Asilov said 1,630 businesses were attacked during the riots. More than 1,500 state and commercial buildings were damaged. He added that police had found and seized stolen property worth more than 38.6 billion Teng.
