Thursday, March 28

Kazakhstan Detains Former Head of National Security on Suspicion of Treason | Kazakhstan


The former head of Kazakhstan’s national intelligence agency was detained on suspicion of high treason, the agency said, after he was fired amid violent protests.

The National Security Committee, or KNB, said in a statement Saturday that its former boss Karim Masimov had been detained Thursday after it launched an investigation into the high treason charges.

“On suspicion of having committed this crime, former KNB president KK Masimov was arrested and placed in a temporary detention center, along with others,” the statement said.

Dozens of people have been killed and public buildings in Kazakhstan have been looted and burned in the worst violence experienced by the former Soviet republic in 30 years of independence.

Security forces appeared to have retaken the streets of Kazakhstan’s main city on Friday after days of violence, and Russian-backed President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said he had ordered his troops to shoot to kill to quell an uprising in the whole country.

At Tokayev’s invitation, a Russian-led military alliance has been deployed at a time of high tension in East-West relations. Russia and the United States are preparing for next week’s talks on the Ukraine crisis.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Friday that Kazakhstan will find it difficult to reduce Russian influence after inviting troops to quell the unrest.

“A lesson from recent history is that once the Russians are in your house, it is sometimes very difficult to make them leave,” Blinken said.

On Friday, the US State Department also authorized non-emergency consulate employees and family members of all staff to leave Kazakhstan, warning its citizens that “violent protests can seriously affect the ability to the US Embassy to provide consular services ”.

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Massimov is widely viewed as a close ally of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev. He has been prime minister twice and has also served as head of the presidential administration under Nazarbayev.

Nazarbayev, 81, was the oldest ruler of a former Soviet state until he handed over the presidency to Tokayev in 2019. His family is believed to have retained influence in Nur-Sultan, the specially built capital named after him. .

The Interior Ministry has said that 26 protesters were killed in clashes over the past week, as well as 18 people from police and security forces. Witness reports of shootings and victims suggest that the true figures may be considerably higher. More than 3,800 people were detained, the ministry said.

In a televised speech on Friday, Tokayev said that he had personally given the order to use deadly force in recent days, and also blamed “so-called free media” for helping stoke the unrest.

“Abroad, there are calls for the two parties to hold negotiations for a peaceful resolution,” he said. “What idiocy. What kind of negotiations can you have with criminals? They were armed and well-trained bandits, both local and foreign. Bandits and terrorists, who should be destroyed. This will happen in the shortest possible time ”.

The protests were sparked this week by a sudden spike in fuel prices combined with prolonged frustrations over the country’s political and economic situation. Peaceful demonstrations turned violent on Wednesday, with crowds taking over government buildings and widespread looting.

With Agence France-Presse and Reuters


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