Update by Law Enforcement on Investigation into Kazakhstan’s Tragic January: Police Assists Injured Citizens, Damaged Businesses
Nur-Sultan, 2 March 2022 – Yeldos Kilymzhanov, Deputy Head of the 1st Service of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Kazakhstan, and Sanjar Adilov, Head of Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan, provided today another update on the investigation into the tragic events in early January in Kazakhstan.
Adilov stated that the work of the police is first and foremost aimed at assisting injured citizens and owners of damaged businesses, and at taking measures to compensate for the damage. It was announced that more than 4,000 people were injured during the January events, including 2,402 police officers and 990 military personnel involved in maintaining public order.
It was further announced that 3,666 pre-trial investigations are being processed by investigative groups. They include cases of acts of terrorism and riots, robberies, theft, theft of weapons, and the use of violence against law enforcement officers. 101 criminal cases against 162 accused have been sent to court. 62 persons have been sentenced to various types of punishments. In addition, 2,997 criminal cases are under investigation by the internal affairs bodies. 194 persons are being held in custody. 152 of them were arrested for theft during riots, 22 for illegal possession of weapons and 24 for theft of weapons.
Kilymzhanov confirmed once again that the Prosecutor General’s Office regularly checks the conditions of the detainees in custody. There are currently 751 persons in pre-trial detention centers. He added that the premises are also checked by human rights organizations, including the Commissioner for Human Rights, and members of the Coordinating Council and the National Preventive Mechanism, who have made 118 visits to detention centers in all regions of the country.
Adilov further informed that 1,502 businesses were attacked during the riots. He added that the police have found and seized stolen property worth over 288 million tenge ($588,412 USD). The speaker also stated that 1,069 weapons and 21,759 munitions were found and recovered by the police.