Kazakhstan’s Law Enforcement Agencies Continue to Provide Updates on Investigation into Tragic January Events    

Nur-Sultan, 25 January 2022 – Law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan have continued to provide an update and statistics on the investigation into the events that took place in early January 2022 in Kazakhstan.

 

Yeldos Kilimzhanov, Deputy Head of 1st Service of the General Prosecutor's Office, provided the following summary of the work that has been conducted in line with the request of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to mitigate punishment in the absence of aggravating circumstances:

 

As of today, the courts have reviewed 9,257 administrative cases related to the January events. Almost half of the considered cases did not receive any practical punishment - 4,584 persons have been issued a warning by the court. At present, at the request of the prosecutors, 1149 persons have been released from custody, 577 fines have been replaced with a warning, 393 administrative cases have been dismissed due to the absence of any crime.

 

He noted that 63 persons out of 3314 people, who were sentenced to administrative detention, are still under arrest. A further 13 applications by prosecutors for mitigation of administrative punishment are pending before the courts.

 

Mr. Kilimzhanov further informed that as of 25 January, the investigative teams had 2,044 criminal cases pending. 898 suspects have been detained in these cases. Of these, 802 were taken into custody with court authorisation, 50 persons were placed under home arrest, 21 persons were released on bail, 12 persons were requested to give a written pledge not to leave the city, and the level of punishment for 13 persons is still under consideration.

 

He emphasized that the prosecutor’s office is ensuring legality during the investigation into the tragic events. The procuratorial authorities have so far received 109 complaints related to unauthorized methods of investigation and violations of citizens' rights during the investigation by the law enforcement agencies. In 11 of the complaints, the prosecutors themselves have opened pretrial investigations into abuse of authority and official powers, and 10 criminal cases have been registered by the criminal prosecution authorities on the instructions of the prosecutors. To date, 21 cases are pending, of which 20 are being investigated by anti-corruption officers and 1 by special prosecutors. 43 complaints are being investigated and 22 have not been substantiated. The representative of the General Prosecutor’s Office also noted that rapid response teams of law enforcement officers have been established in all regions of the country. The contact details of the prosecutors on duty are available on the departmental website prokuror.gov.kz.

 

The prosecutorial agencies are also working to determine the circumstances of civilian deaths. A full investigation of the causes of death is under way in each case. In this regard, the prosecutors have already reevaluated three criminal cases as a homicide. Mr. Kilimzhanov noted, however, that the provided data is not final as substantial work remains.

 

In addition to investigating criminal cases, law enforcement agencies are also locating and seizing weapons that were stolen during the unrest. As highlighted by the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, citizens are given the opportunity to voluntarily surrender weapons. The General Prosecutor’s Office guarantees exemption from criminal responsibility for individuals who voluntarily hand over illegally held firearms, ammunition and explosives, as long as they did not commit another criminal activity. However, instances where a person is arrested with a weapon are not recognized by the law enforcement agencies as a voluntary surrender of firearms. The internal affairs agencies have been instructed to intensify investigative and preventive measures to seize firearms from illegal circulation.

 

Mr. Kilimzhanov concluded his statement by stating that local prosecutors are ensuring the observance of constitutional rights of those involved in the process and are taking measures to ensure an objective investigation of the criminal cases.

 

A statement was also made on 24 January by Sanjar Adilov, head of the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He informed that 1,466 different buildings and structures were attacked in Almaty, Talodikorgan, Taraz, Shymkent, Kyzylorda, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Aktobe, Atyrau and Semey, including 71 government institutions, 12 of which are buildings of the mayor’s offices and 27 police facilities (buildings - 15, modular units - 12). Businesses suffered the most damage with 1,395 instances of looting. In addition, over 700 vehicles were destroyed and damaged, including over 500 vehicles of the police, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Emergency Situations, ambulances, and other state bodies. 116 civilians were also victims of these attacks. 7 hunting shops were also looted during the attacks, from which 1,564 civilian weapons were stolen.

 

Mr. Adilov noted that President Tokayev has entrusted the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate the reasons for the terrorist acts and their organizers. In this regard, all criminal cases in this and related categories have been sent to the interagency investigative and operational groups headed by special prosecutors. The remaining criminal cases are being investigated by the state bodies of internal affairs, national security, economy-related investigators, and anti-corruption services.

 

He informed that about 70% of the cases (1,356) are theft-related, mostly committed at commercial premises in Almaty during the chaos caused by the unrest. 127 criminal cases are being investigated for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and another 30 cases are being investigated for theft of weapons. 63 criminal cases are on intentional damage and destruction of property, 12 on hijacking of vehicles, 24 criminal cases of looting and robbery, and 23 cases of violence and attempts on the life of law enforcement officers.

274 people have been detained and placed in temporary detention facilities for theft and robbery. The culpability of the detainees is proved by the evidence of possession of stolen goods and weapons, CCTV footage, video clips from social networks, as well as the data found in the mobile phones of the suspects.

 

Mr. Adilov informed that it has been calculated that the total amount of preliminary damage that has been reported by residents because of the criminal activities has exceeded 87 billion tenge. This amount is increasing as affected persons continue to report damage.

 

He added that all procedural decisions by the investigators of internal affairs bodies on criminal cases are taken in strict compliance with the requirements of the law on criminal procedure, namely in the framework of the three-tier model of criminal procedure. All key procedural decisions, detention of suspects, specification of their acts, as well as the proposed punishment, are agreed upon exclusively by the prosecutor. Moreover, procedural actions such as searches, seizures, taking samples for expert examination, and the authorisation of punishments are carried out by the decisions of the investigating courts.

 

The representative of the Internal Affairs Ministry noted that all persons detained on suspicion of committing a crime are placed in temporary detention facilities only after a medical examination for bodily injuries, while the circumstances of the injuries are determined, as some suspects were brought directly to the medical institutions from the locations of the unrest. In addition, detained suspects are provided with access to qualified lawyers including, if necessary, with free defence lawyers at the state’s expense.

 

Every complaint of abuse of power and abuse of authority by law enforcement officers is checked by the prosecution authorities and, as per the request of the Minister of Internal Affairs, by the Ministry’s own security units, whose contact information has been published online. In addition, as per the recommendations of the medical staff at special institutions, the issue of changing the punishment for suspects who have complaints about their state of health is being considered. To date, several suspects have already been released from custody on these grounds and on the basis of their personality. In their cases, measures of restraint not involving isolation from society have been applied.

 

Mr. Adilov announced that during the anti-terrorist operation, 515 stolen weapons were found and seized. These included 75 assault rifles, 133 pistols, two machine guns; 47 rifled and 103 smooth bore weapons; over 100 grenades and 9,000 cartridges. A total of 98 persons were arrested and detained for theft of weapons and 61 were placed in temporary detention facilities for illegal possession of firearms. He also urged all citizens who have found weapons to voluntarily give them up. To date, 31 weapons have already been voluntarily relinquished. Special investigative teams have been established, and experienced officers from the Central Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been sent to provide practical assistance.

 

The head of the Investigation Department concluded by urging citizens to remain calm and show understanding of the investigative procedures aimed at carrying out a comprehensive, full and objective investigation.