Kazakhstan has detained a former defense minister after prosecutors opened an investigation into his failure to carry out his duties during last month’s deadly upheaval, which killed 225 people, according to a statement from the prosecutor general’s office.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev fired Murat Bektanov last month, and if convicted, he faces four to eight years in prison.
“On February 19, the General Prosecutor’s Office opened a pre-trial inquiry into the former Minister of Defense Bektanov Murat Karibayevich under Article 452 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan for inaction during his employment.” On February 20, Bektanov was detained and lodged in a temporary detention centre on suspicion of committing this crime,” the prosecutor general’s office stated on Monday, referring to the Russian order of the full name followed by the father’s name.
Tokayev has called the worst upheaval in Central Asia’s post-Soviet history an attempted coup, and another senior security official, the former head of the national security committee, has been jailed on treason and abuse of office accusations.
Apart from the former security chief and a couple of his deputies, the authorities claim they are still examining the January incidents.
Failure by an official to carry out his official obligations, which resulted in grave repercussions, is punishable by imprisonment for a period of four to eight years, according to the legislation, under the article “Inaction of the authorities.”
In a conflict situation, the same activities carry a sentence of five to ten years in prison.
The disturbance began on January 2 in a southwestern oil town in response to an increase in fuel prices, and quickly spread across Kazakhstan’s cities, resulting in violent fights and looting.
Bandits and international “terrorists,” according to Kazakhstani authorities, hijacked the protests, which shifted the epicenter of turmoil to Almaty, the country’s largest city.
During the upheaval, Tokayev sought assistance from a Russian-led military alliance, and by seizing control of the National Security Council, he put his former mentor and predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev on the backburner.
Troops from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), an alliance of six former Soviet governments, assisted in the de-escalation of hostilities in Central Asia before withdrawing.
