Kazakhstan nabs ex-security boss
FORMER PM MASIMOV SUSPECTED OF TREASON AS UNREST WORSENS
>>ALMATY: The former head of Kazakhstan’s domestic security agency has been detained on suspicion of treason, the agency said yesterday, 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.
Mr 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 Mr 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 Mr 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 yesterday, with security forces firing warning shots at anyone approaching a central square.
Mr Masimov, 56, twice served as Mr Nazarbayev’s prime minister and had been head of the National Security Committee (KNB) since 2016.
The KNB said in a statement that it had launched an investigation into charges of high treason on Thursday and that Mr Masimov had been detained the same day “on suspicion of committing this crime”.
It said others had also been arrested and that Mr 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 Mr Nazarbayev — who stepped down in 2019 after decades in power and hand-picked Mr Tokayev as his successor — had fled the country.
Mr Tokayev also took over from Mr Nazarbayev this week as head of the country’s security council.
Denouncing those spreading “knowingly false and speculative information”, Mr Nazarbayev’s spokesman Aidos Ukibay said yesterday the ex-leader was in the capital Nur-Sultan and in “direct contact” with Mr Tokayev.
Mr Nazarbayev “calls on everyone to rally around the president of Kazakhstan to overcome current challenges and ensure the integrity of the country”, Mr Ukibay said on Twitter.
Long seen as one of the most stable of the five ex-Soviet republics of Central Asia, Kazakhstan plunged into chaos this week, prompting Mr Tokayev to call in troops from a Moscow-led military alliance.
In a hardline address to the nation on Friday, the president said 20,000 “armed bandits” had attacked Almaty and authorised his forces to shoot to kill without warning.
He ridiculed calls from abroad for negotiations as “nonsense”, saying: “We are dealing with ... bandits and terrorists. So they must be destroyed.”
The initial cause of the protests was a spike in fuel prices but a government move to lower the prices and the sacking of the cabinet failed to stop demonstrations continuing.
The violence erupted when police fired tear gas and stun grenades at thousands protesting in Almaty late on Tuesday.
The next day protesters stormed government buildings including the city administration headquarters and presidential residence, setting them ablaze, and a nationwide state of emergency was declared.
The interior ministry said 26 “armed criminals” had been killed in the unrest, as well as 18 security officers and more than 740 wounded.
Over 4,000 people have been detained, including some foreigners, the ministry added. Tomorrow has been declared a national day of mourning.