Prosecutor General’s Office: organizers of January events acted with clear plan

More than 1,500 government and commercial buildings were damaged, 765 cars and emergency vehicles were burned, and almost 3,000 weapons were stolen. At a meeting in the Mazhilis of the Kazakh Parliament, Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General Berik Assylov reported on the results of the investigation into the January events. The organizers acted with a clear plan. Riots broke out in 11 regions on January 4-5. While some were looting shops, other armed criminals seized the buildings of state structures, the National Security Committee, the police, the President’s residence and other strategic objects. The aggressors were extremists, criminal gangsters and radicals, Berik Assylov emphasized.

“As soon as pogroms and arsons began, armed radicals made use of this chaos, staged targeted attacks on various objects. That is, today we see a mixture of extremism, crime and radicalism. Without decisive actions of the state, the wave of unrest could be followed by a violent seizure of power. At the same time, we can say that all the actions were well-coordinated. It is obvious that the rally was planned,” said Berik Asylov, Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan.

The Prosecutor General noted that multibillion-dollar damage was caused to citizens, businesses and the state, and the ultimate goal of the acts was the seizure of power. Moreover, according to Berik Assylov, the security forces tried to contain the violence and did not use weapons to the last, but got along only with non-lethal means – rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades.

Translation by Saniya Sakenova

Editing by Saule Mukhamejanova