The country’s president also dismisses the deputy secretary of the Security Council amid the wave of unrest
The head of the Kazakh secret services, Karim Massimov, has been arrested on suspicion of high treason, two days after his resignation from office for having been unable to detect the protests that have been shaking the country this week.
In addition, the president of Kazakhstan, Kasim Jomart Tokayev, has dismissed the deputy secretary of the Security Council, Azamat Abdimomunov, as reported by the presidential press office. This dismissal would be an indication of Tokayev’s intention to make profound changes in a political system still heavily influenced by former President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
“In accordance with the decree of the head of state, Azamat Abdimomunov has been removed from his post as deputy secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” explains the statement, collected by the Russian news agency Sputnik.
Both dismissals would be related to the dismissal of the former president of Kazakhstan and the country’s leader for almost 30 years, Nursultán Nazarbayev, as president of the Security Council. Nazarbayev, considered until now a very influential figure, remains in the country despite rumors of exile.
The Kazakh government, which has blamed part of the disturbances on terrorist elements under foreign influence, has estimated 40 dead and more than 4,400 arrested in the marches and clashes, and has declared a state of emergency in the great city of Almaty , one of the epicenters of the confrontations, which began at the beginning after a protest against the rise in prices of liquefied gas.
Also in the last hours it has been known that President Tokayev has declared Monday as a day of national mourning for the victims of violence, reports the TASS news agency.
This Saturday the Security Council published a list of seven of its officials who died during the riots. Two officers and three cadets from the Border Guard Academy (KNB) died on the night of 6 to 7 January and another member of the KNB regional division died in Zhambil. In addition, another of the fatalities was an agent of the Air Forces counter-intelligence services.
Furthermore, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reported the death of an Israeli citizen last night. “A 22-year-old Israeli died last night in a shootout during the riots in Almaty,” said the Ministry, which has already contacted the young man’s parents, who are in Kazakhstan, and other members of his family, living in Israel.
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