Dokument #2012361
RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Autor)
NUR-SULTAN -- Authorities detained dozens of people in Kazakhstan's two largest cities, as protesters staged the latest in a series of rallies against newly elected President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev.
Demonstrators marching through the city streets of the capital Nur-Sultan on July 6 were confronted by uniformed and plainclothes police officers and were dragged to nearby police buses.
Men appearing to be security agents tried to block RFE/RL reporters and videographers from filming the detentions, using umbrellas to block their views. Some of RFE/RL's video and broadcast equipment was damaged by unidentified men.
The protests were organized in part by the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, a banned political party that is backed by Mukhtar Ablyazov, a tycoon who has lived in exile since 2009.
A longtime outspoken opponent of Kazakhstan's governing elites, Ablyazov has for years clashed with Kazakh authorities. Last year, a court ruled the party was an extremist organization and banned it.
The July 6 protests were the latest in a series that have occurred with more frequency since longtime ruler Nursultan Nazarbaev abruptly resigned and named a successor.
Toqaev formally won election as president on June 9, in a vote that international observers said was marred by "detentions of peaceful protesters, and widespread voting irregularities on election day [that] showed scant respect for democratic standards."
Copyright (c) 2010-2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.