“The headquarters said what to do”: fugitive banker Ablyazov spoke about coordinating protests in Kazakhstan from Kiev

The coordination of mass protest actions in Kazakhstan came from Kiev. This was stated in an interview with RIA Novosti by a fugitive Kazakh banker Mukhtar Ablyazov, who lives in France.

“Our organizational headquarters—more precisely, it was called the “Coordinating Headquarters of Democratic Elections of Kazakhstan”—is located in Kiev,” Ablyazov said.

He also spoke about the mechanism for coordinating protests.

“We gave our phones and coordinates here.

We have a headquarters (in Kiev), which said what needs to be done, and people received a guiding star ahead, they did not need to call for this, look for leaders, they knew what to do.

And people began to move in this direction, ”RIA Novosti quotes him as saying.

Ablyazov pointed out that the January 2 protest against the increase in gas prices was spontaneous.

“It is this protest, when people came out demanding lower prices for liquefied gas, we have nothing to do with this,” he stressed.

In addition, the fugitive banker announced an "algorithm of actions" for the seizure of administrative buildings by protesters.

“We called for occupying administrative buildings.

Do not capture, in Russian there is (word. -

) "knock".

To occupy is to fill oneself,” he said.

Ablyazov has been living abroad for many years.

In Kazakhstan, he was found guilty of embezzling BTA Bank funds (damage exceeds $7.5 billion), creating a criminal community, and also sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a business partner.

The unregistered movement "Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan" headed by him is recognized as an extremist organization in the country.

• AP

• © Vladimir Tretyakov/NUR.KZ

As previously reported, during the riots that took place in Kazakhstan in early January, 225 people were killed, including 19 law enforcement officers.

Such data are provided by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic.

A total of 4,578 people were affected.

As the director of the public relations department of the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan, Asel Artakshinova, specified during a press conference, out of 225 dead, 175 died in medical organizations.

She added that during the unrest in Kazakhstan, there were 20 attacks on healthcare facilities, and seven medical workers were injured.

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On the fact of the January events in Kazakhstan, the investigation team is investigating 546 criminal cases, including 44 on acts of terrorism, 34 on riots and 15 on murders.

CSTO Secretary General - on the situation in Kazakhstan

CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas, in an interview with RT, said that Kazakhstan is returning to normal life after the riots.

“The situation has stabilized.

Unfortunately, it is still premature to talk about the normalization of the situation.

The state of emergency is in effect, there are restrictive measures... It cannot be said that the country has returned completely to normal life, it is returning to it,” he said.

According to him, Kazakhstan is grateful for the work of the CSTO peacekeeping contingent.

“They understood that they came to help them in a difficult situation.

For all these days, there has not been a single clash between peacekeepers and the local population, there have not even been any conflicts... situation," he said.

The CSTO Secretary General emphasized that the peacekeepers effectively fulfilled their mission, and the goals of the operation were achieved: “The task was very simple: to assist the fraternal people of Kazakhstan in ensuring the security of people, in ensuring the stability of the country.

And this goal was fulfilled with honor by the peacekeepers, but the most important thing is that such assessments are given by the people of Kazakhstan and the president of this country.”

Zas also expressed confidence that a new aggravation of the situation in Kazakhstan is impossible.

“I would not talk about the danger of some kind of revenge or a new surge.

I am practically sure that this is impossible, because, firstly, the situation is under control.

Secondly, now a lot of work is being done to clarify the whole picture, all the participants.

Accordingly, measures will be taken within the framework of the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

And of course, everyone drew conclusions from this situation for themselves - not only the Kazakh people, but also the country's leadership, ”the CSTO Secretary General emphasized.