Page 48 - BNE_magazine_bne_July2019_20190707

48 I Eurasia bne July 2019
Rinat Zaitov, a poet and musician who has said he aims to form his own political movement, was released after protesters rallied at Almaty's department of internal affairs where he was detained.
KAZAKHSTAN PROTESTS: 'Spetsnaz special forces' units round up election observers at arena
bne IntelliNews
Rallies that featured hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters in the largest Kazakh city Almaty and the capital Nur-Sultan on the day
of the snap presidential vote (on June
9) continued on a much smaller scale early on June 10. However, a major protest took place in Almaty on the night of June 10-11 in response to Kazakh
law enforcement authorities rounding up around "100 independent election observers" who had gathered at Almaty Arena, according to some opposition activists.
Kazakh authorities sent in the Kazakh Spetsnaz (local special forces units) to raid the observers’ event, activists said. Among those detained was the leader
of a local volunteer election observer group, Rinat Zaitov, a poet and musician who has said he aims to form his own political movement. The incident
was recorded on video.
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In response to the arrests, dozens, if not hundreds of Kazakhs, staged a rally at the Almaty-based department of internal affairs, where Zaitov was taken. The law enforcement authorities, under pressure from the gathering, then let Zaitov go. An impromptu march, accompanied
by drivers honking their horns, subsequently took place along Tole Bi street, as captured in video footage. The peaceful demonstrators included both people on foot and people driving cars which interfered with night-time traffic.
The protesters are heard chanting “Kazakhstan!” in another posted video. In response, law enforcement authorities including riot police blocked off the road and conducted another round of arrests. Police were seen slamming people to the ground. News website Tengrinews.kz alleged police beat up one of its reporters at the site. Reuters reported the Almaty police department as saying a car driven
by protesters had hit a policeman and
a police car had been damaged by stones hurled at it.
Potential to mobilise
The demonstrations on election day, and follow-up events, have demonstrated the potential of the Kazakh opposition to mobilise. The 16% of the vote won by the sole genuine opposition candidate, former journalist Amirzhan Kosanov, marked the first time in a long time that any candidate apart from the ruling party’s candidate was able to garner significant support.
Anti-government activists continue
to call for more protests. Messages on social media urge people to take to
the streets again, or for the first time
on June 11. The interior ministry said police arrested 200 people on June 10
in addition to the 500 held on election day for staging protests defined as illegal