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Kazakhstan's Former Security Chief Detained Amid Crackdown On Protests

By RFE/RL January 08, 2022

The former head of Kazakhstan's domestic intelligence agency was detained on suspicion of high treason on January 8, two days after he was relieved of the position amid violent protests.

The National Security Committee provided no further details about the detention of Karim Masimov, while noting that other unidentified security officials were also detained.

The 56-year-old Masimov twice served as prime minister and is seen as a longtime associate of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev, a major target of public anger during the deadly unrest that erupted last week over a hike in fuel prices. Masimov had held the position of security chief since his appointment in 2016.

The move came as Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry announced that more than 4,000 people had been detained in ongoing operations to quell the demonstrations, which led to a request for intervention by a Russia-led regional military alliance.

President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev earlier gave permission for security forces to "shoot to kill" demonstrators, whom he described as "bandits" and "terrorists," labels protesters have dismissed.

Smatterings of gunfire were heard overnight into the morning of January 8 in the commercial capital Almaty, the focal point of days of rioting and harsh security response in which scores of people died.

Authorities announced that one of the people shot dead was an 11-year-old boy. Aruzhan Sain, Kazakhstan's Commissioner for Children's Rights, said the boy was shot on January 5 while walking with his parents.

Officials have said that 18 security officers were killed and more than 700 injured in the violence. The Interior Ministry said on January 7 that 26 "armed men" had been killed and 26 "criminals" wounded.

Authorities have not further identified the dead, and the Interior Ministry did not provide further information on how many people died, but information from websites and other sources indicated that the true number of dead is higher than the official accounting.

Toqaev has declared January 10 a day of national mourning "in connection with the tragic deaths in a number of regions in the country."

Toqaev on January 8 also dismissed the deputy secretary of the National Security Committee, Asamat Abdymomunov, according to state television. Abdymomunov had been appointed to the position by Nazarbayev more than six years ago, according to Toqaev's office.

By early on January 8 the only active protest was in the city of Zhanaozen in Mangystau region.

The protests erupted in the western region of Mangystau on January 2 over the doubling in the price of subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) before spreading and morphing into calls for political reform in the tightly controlled country.

Toqaev declared a state of emergency and on January 5 asked the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to help provide security.

Within hours, the first Russian paratroopers arrived, followed by units from fellow CSTO members Belarus, Armenia, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Around 2,500 troops from the alliance are expected to deploy to Kazakhstan for what Toqaev described as a "a short period of time."

It's unclear whether CSTO troops have helped put down protests, but the alliance and officials from participating countries have said units would only secure key infrastructure and facilities.

Russian soldiers deployed at Almaty airport, helped secure key facilities in the city, and are providing security at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where Russia launches satellites and space missions.

On January 8, the Russian airline Aeroflot announced it had canceled two evening flights, one from Moscow to the capital, Nur-Sultan, and another from Moscow to Almaty. The international airport in Nur-Sultan only planned to operate six international flights on January 8, while hundreds of domestic flights were canceled at airports around the country.

Toqaev said during a meeting with senior officials the same day that the deployment of CSTO forces in Nur-Sultan had freed up Kazakh law-enforcement agencies to redeploy personnel in Almaty.

Amid widespread reports that the 81-year-old Nazarbaev had fled the country, his office announced on January 8 that long-serving former president remained in Nur-Sultan.

The speed at which the CSTO arrived on the scene in Kazakhstan was seen by some analysts as another sign of the Kremlin's strategy to act quickly to safeguard its influence in the former Soviet Union.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a lengthy phone conversation with Toqaev on January 8 in which the two leaders discussed the measures being taken to restore order. The Kazakh president thanked Putin for the CSTO's intervention, according to the Kremlin.

With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/chief-kazakh- intelligence-masimov-detained/31644822.html

Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.