Police officers on a street in Almaty. File photoALMA-ATA, Jan 22More than 780 people have been arrested with the court's sanction in criminal cases initiated after mass riots and acts of terrorism in Kazakhstan, Yeldos Kilymzhanov, deputy head of the first service of the Prosecutor General's Office, said. 45 — for acts of terrorism, 36 — for riots and 15 — for murders. In addition, cases are being investigated on the facts of robberies, thefts, theft of weapons, and the use of violence against law enforcement officers. «970 suspects were detained in these cases, of which 782 were taken into custody with a court order, 29 were placed under house arrest,» Kilymzhanov said. According to him, the largest number of those arrested — 464 — falls on cases of terrorism and riots. The representative of the prosecutor's office explained that several suspects could be detained in one case. Earlier, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan Yerlan Turgumbaev said that the total number of criminal cases initiated as a result of the events was 1822.
Kazakh Foreign Ministry accuses European Parliament of bias Later, the protests spread to other cities, including Alma-Ata, the old capital and the largest city of the republic: looting began there, militants attacked state institutions, took away weapons. In response, the authorities declared a state of emergency throughout the country until January 19 and launched a counter-terrorism operation. According to the UN, during the protests in Kazakhstan, about 1,000 people were injured. According to the country's Prosecutor General's Office, 4,578 people were injured as a result of the riots, 225 people were killed, including 19 security officials. On the morning of January 5, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev dismissed the government and headed the Security Council. At the first meeting of the Security Council under his leadership, Tokayev described the situation in Kazakhstan as undermining the integrity of the state and said that he had asked for help from the CSTO «in overcoming the terrorist threat.» The CSTO Collective Security Council decided to send collective peacekeeping forces to Kazakhstan to normalize the situation in the country. Later, on January 7, Tokayev said that terrorists, including those who arrived from abroad, continue to resist, and promised to destroy those who did not lay down their arms . In addition, the president noted that all the demands of citizens, expressed in peaceful forms, were heard. The successful completion of the CSTO mission was announced on January 13. On Wednesday, the Kazakh Defense Ministry announced that there were no foreign military personnel in the republic anymore.
