Akimat building in Alma-Ata fire damagedALMA-ATA, Feb 13The uncoordinated rally in memory of the victims of the January events on Republic Square in Almaty lasted almost three hours and ended without incident, RIA Novosti correspondent reports. On January 4-6 this year, Republic Square became the epicenter of events that began as a rally, but turned into riots , violent clashes with the police, attacks on authorities, office buildings, commercial structures and looting. Around the square are the buildings of the city akimat (mayor’s office), a branch of the presidential administration, a number of media outlets that were looted and burned during the clashes, which in Kazakhstan are called the “January events” or the “January tragedy.” The rally participants in their speeches called for a transparent investigation of the January events, demanded an end to the torture of detainees, the release of innocent citizens from pre-trial detention centers. In addition, a number of speakers criticized the order of the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, to shoot to kill, believing that this led to civilian casualties. «Today we went to Alan ( square — ed.) in order to convey to the authorities that the people are not terrorists. Among the dead there are people who did not burn the akimat, did not attack the police, but simply wanted to express their political and economic demands,» RIA Novosti said one from the rally participants.
The President of Kazakhstan honored the memory of the victims of the January riotsSome participants held posters demanding personal sanctions against the first president of the republic, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Tokayev, and Interior Minister Yerlan Turgumbayev. The police did not interfere with the rally, despite the fact that it was not agreed with the authorities. At the beginning January mass protests took place in Kazakhstan. In the first days of 2022, residents of the cities of Zhanaozen and Aktau in the west of the country opposed the doubling of prices for liquefied 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. The authorities declared a state of emergency throughout the country until January 19 and carried out 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. victim of international gangs
