Kazakhstan detains ex-security chief on suspicion of treason
ALMATY, Kazakhstan: The former head of Kazakhstan’s domestic security agency has been detained on suspicion of treason, the agency said Saturday, after he was fired amid unprecedented unrest.
The detention of Karim Masimov, a former prime minister and longtime ally of Kazakhstan’s ex-leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, was the first major move against a top official in the biggest crisis the ex-Soviet Central Asian republic has faced in years.
Nazarbayev’s spokesman meanwhile denied rumours the ex-president had left the country and said he was urging Kazakhs to rally around the government.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev sacked Masimov earlier this week after protests over rising fuel prices erupted into widespread violence, with government buildings in the largest city Almaty stormed and set ablaze.
Authorities said Friday the situation was largely under control, but Tokayev issued a shoot-to-kill order and rejected any negotiations with protesters.
An AFP correspondent in Almaty said the city was quiet but tense on Saturday, with security forces firing warning shots at anyone approaching a central square.
Masimov, 56, twice served as Nazarbayev’s prime minister and had been head of the National Security Committee, or KNB, since 2016.
The KNB said in a statement that it had launched an investigation into charges of high treason on Thursday and that Masimov had been detained the same day “on suspicion of committing this crime”.
It said others had also been arrested and that Masimov was being held in a temporary detention centre, but provided no further information.
Rumours have swirled of infighting among the Kazakh elite, with speculation that Nazarbayev – who stepped down in 2019 after decades in power and hand-picked Tokayev as his successor – had fled the country.
Tokayev also took over from Nazarbayev this week as head of the country’s security council.
Denouncing those spreading “knowingly false and speculative information,” Nazarbayev’s spokesman Aidos Ukibay said Saturday the ex-leader was in the capital Nur-Sultan and in “direct contact” with Tokayev.
Nazarbayev “calls on everyone to rally around the president of Kazakhstan to overcome current challenges and ensure the integrity of the country,” Ukibay said on Twitter.
On Saturday Tokayev’s office said he had declared national day of mourning for Monday.
The full picture of the chaos has often been unclear, with widespread disruptions to communications including mobile phone signals and hourslong internet shutdowns.