TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Authorities in Kazakhstan arrested a former interior minister on Tuesday, in connection with deadly police crackdown on unrest that gripped the country in 2022, Kazakh news media reported. The Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Monday that Erlan Turgumbayev was detained on charges of “abuse of power and official authority resulting in grave consequences” in the harsh crackdown of riots by the police. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs is in charge of the nation’s police force. The unrest started in the city of Zhanaozen on Jan. 2, 2022, when residents protested a sharp increase in the cost of liquefied petroleum gas, commonly used as fuel for vehicles in Kazakhstan. Those protests evolved into criticisms of corruption, economic inequality against former leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose critics say have been profiting off the country’s vast energy wealth ever since assuming office in 1991. |
Britain to expel Russian spy and strip Putin regime of several UK diplomatic buildings including 50Winner of North Macedonia's parliamentary election to seek governing coalition partnerI got top grades in my GCSEsFirst round of PGA Tour Champions' Regions Tradition starts after weather delayJapan Fisheries Agency proposes allowing commercial catching of fin whalesThe serial dineWinner of North Macedonia's parliamentary election to seek governing coalition partnerA Ukrainian gymnast carried the Paris Olympic torch with an EU team, in a sign of supportKing Charles was 'delighted' and 'playful' at garden party at Buckingham PalaceThe Taliban warn journalists, experts against cooperating with Afghanistan International TV