Members of Kazakhstan’s security forces have joined protestors in the dock at hearings related to December’s fatal unrest in Zhanaozen.
Five police officers went on trial in Aktau on April 27, charged with abuse of office with “serious consequences.” They face prison terms of up to 10 years, local news agencies reported.
Though police top brass have not been charged, the officers are relatively senior: Kabdygali Utegaliyev, deputy police chief of Mangystau Region; Yerlan Bakytkaliuly, deputy police chief of Zhanaozen; Nurlan Yesergenov, a senior interrogator; Rinat Zholdybayev, a senior operations officer; and Bekzhan Bagdabayev, head of the department for combating extremism.
A state prosecutor has alleged that the accused “had the opportunity to use other methods… in particular rubber bullets and billy clubs,” but used lethal force against protestors instead.
At least 16 protestors died and 64 were wounded when police fired on them on December 16. Thirty-five members of the security forces also sustained injuries in the violence. The casualty figures suggest that many more than the five officers on trial used weapons, sparking suggestions that those in the dock are taking the rap for others.
Police have claimed the deaths and injuries were caused by ricocheting bullets, but a video posted on YouTube at the time showed officers firing at the backs of fleeing demonstrators.
“The fact that the trials also include cases against the law enforcement officials points to the due process being undertaken,” the Kazakh embassy in Washington said in an e-mailed statement on May 1. The embassy added that Kazakhstan “holds no one above the law” and Astana “is confident that justice will be served.”
Nearly 10 times as many protestors as police are on trial on charges related to the unrest – 37 protestors in Aktau, and 12 in nearby Shetpe. That ratio has led to suggestions that protestors are being scapegoated for the violence. Several have told the court their testimony was extracted under torture.
A sixth police officer went on trial separately on April 25 over the death of a man from injuries inflicted in custody. Zhenisbek Temirov, deputy head of Zhanaozen’s detention center, is accused of allowing the deceased, Bazarbay Kenzhebayev, to be held illegally and failing to provide hospital treatment.
A third group of activists accused of fomenting the unrest, including opposition leader Vladimir Kozlov, will go on trial at a later, unspecified date.
Joanna Lillis is a journalist based in Almaty and author of Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan.
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