Former Kazakhstan intelligence chief arrested for high treason

The former head of the intelligence agency of Kazakhstan He was detained on suspicion of high treason, said this body on Saturday, after being dismissed amid recent protests in this former Soviet republic.

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After almost a week of crisis in this central Asian country, the Kremlin reported this Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart, Kassym Jomart Tokayev, had a “long” telephone conversation after these unprecedented riots.

The arrest of Karim Masimov, a former prime minister and long-time ally of the former president and founder of the country Nursultán Nazarbayev, is the first consequence of the crisis in this country, the most serious in several years.

A Nazarbayev spokesman denied rumors that the former president had fled Kazakhstan, and called for “not spreading false and speculative information.”

Nazarbayev called on “all citizens to unite around the president of Kazakhstan to allow him to overcome this crisis and guarantee the integrity of the country,” Aidos Ukibay, his spokesman, reported on Twitter.

The largest country in Central Asia has been the scene of protests that broke out in the provinces on Sunday, after a rise in the price of gas, and spread to other cities, and especially to Almaty, the economic capital, where the demonstrations became violent riots.

A contingent of Russian and other allied troops arrived in this former Soviet republic on Thursday to support the government and protect official buildings, along with local security forces.

Presidents Putin and Tokayev “exchanged opinions on measures to restore order in Kazakhstan,” the Kremlin said on Saturday about the leaders’ conversation, adding that both agreed to remain in “permanent” contact.

– High treason –

Shortly before, the Committee for National Security (KNB) announced in a statement that its previous head, Karim Masimov, had been arrested on Thursday after launching an investigation for crimes of high treason.

“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, on 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.

Masimov was fired from his post as head of the KNB this week after protesters broke into Almaty government buildings.

The country’s authorities assured on Friday that the situation was under control, but President Tokayev said the same day that he authorized the police to shoot without warning and ruled out negotiating with the protesters.

This Saturday, an AFP correspondent in Almaty reported that the situation was tense, with warning shots from security forces against those approaching the central square of the city.

– 4,000 detainees –

President Tokayev promised to “eliminate” the “bandits” who have caused these riots, who according to him are “20,000” and had “a clear plan”.

According to the Interior Ministry, 26 “armed criminals” died. For their part, the security forces reported 18 dead and 748 wounded among their troops.

More than 4,000 people have been detained, including some foreigners, according to the ministry.

This Saturday the office of President Tokayev reported that Monday would be declared a day of national mourning.

There were no signs of further clashes on Saturday morning but according to some witnesses, there were shots fired.

The 68-year-old retiree Leonid Kiselyev claimed that his car was shot when he was driving around 08:30 near a municipal building.

“Yesterday was a quiet day, but that’s what I came here for,” says Kiselyev, still shaking, as he waits at a gas station for fuel to arrive.

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Deshawn