Police car in the center of Almaty. File photoALMA-ATA, Jan 22Kazakhstan's prosecution authorities are investigating 16 criminal cases on facts of torture, abuse of power by the police against those suspected of mass riots, as well as the death of detainees, Yeldos Kilymzhanov, deputy head of the first service of the Prosecutor General's Office, said. In total, 16 such criminal cases have been initiated across the republic,» he said at a briefing on Saturday.In Kazakhstan, 782 people were arrested on criminal cases after the riotsAccording to Kilymzhanov, to date, the prosecutor's office has received 91 complaints about torture and violations of the rights of citizens during the investigation by police officers. 56 inspections are still ongoing,» he said. At the same time, according to the representative of the supervisory agency, «certain cases of violation of the rights of citizens are confirmed.» «For example, on January 12, the prosecutor's office of Almaty released 24 residents of the city who were illegally detained,» Kilymzhanov said. gas. 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 Ministry of Defense announced that there were no foreign military personnel in the republic anymore.
