The former head of the National Security Committee (KNB) of Kazakhstan, Karim Masimov, was arrested for high treason, said this body on Saturday (08.01.2022). The official was dismissed on January 5 and is the main implicated in the open investigation after the violent riots that have shaken the Central Asian republic in recent days and that some sources consider an attempted coup.
“On January 6 of this year, the National Security Committee has initiated a preliminary investigation for high treason,” the statement said. “On the same day, under suspicion of committing this crime, the former director of the KNB KK Masimov was arrested and placed in a temporary detention center, along with others,” he adds, without confirming press reports that indicate that among those detained there are more senior KNB officials.
According to article 175 of the penal code, Masimov, who served as prime minister before assuming the leadership of the KNB in 2016, could be sentenced to 15 years in prison. The former presidential adviser, Ermujamet Ertisbaev, accused the detainee of hiding for years the presence of training camps, where participants in the anti-government riots would have been instructed. “That is a terrible state crime,” he told public television.
Other analysts openly accuse Masimov of organizing a coup with the help of mercenaries from Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Nazarbayev is still in Kazakhstan
For his part, the former president of Kazakhstan and father of the country’s independence, Nursultan Nazarbayev, urged the population to support the government to face the political and security crisis. The 81-year-old leader, considered by many to be the shadow power after having governed between 1990 and 2019, also called not to spread false and speculative information.
Since the wave of protests against the rise in fuel prices began, Nazarbayev has made no public appearances, sparking rumors that he may have gone into exile with his family. The demonstrations turned violent and led to united demands around the slogan “down with the old man,” in open reference to Nazarbayev, whom many in Kazakhstan continue to consider the country’s top authority.
The former president’s spokesman, Aidos Ukibay, assured that “Elbasi (the nation’s leader) is in Nursultán (the Kazakh capital) and maintains consultations and is in direct contact with the president.” In addition, Nazarbayev would have been in talks with leaders of ” friendly countries ”. The former president’s family is one of those who suspect that Masinov tried to orchestrate a coup.
Call to Putin
Meanwhile, the President of Kazakhstan, Kasim-Yomart Tokayev, held a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to whom he assured that the situation is stabilizing in the country, after the violent riots in recent days. Russia deployed troops to Kazakhstan to help restore order.
DZC (EFE, AFP)
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