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.
Macron is making a surprise trip to New Caledonia amid deadly unrest and indigenous frustration
Canadian police arrest of fourth Indian suspect in killing of Sikh activist
DAN HODGES: Keir Starmer has sold his soul to hard
Hoist the pirate flag! St. Pauli promoted back to the Bundesliga
Burglar hurled stolen mobile phones at police from the top of 60ft high roof during nine
Tunisian lawyers call for strike over arrest of their colleague amid crackdown on dissent
Former president Trump encourages foul
Elias Díaz has 2 hits including a tiebreaking single in a six
When in Rome... look fabulous, says Lily Collins, 36, and co