Several thousand people gathered in front of the Mayor's Office in downtown Almaty demanding fair investigation into the recent murders of an opposition leader and his aides and the prosecution of those guilty, a witness said.
The Mayor's Office earlier allowed for the rally to be held in one of the city's neighborhoods but not in the center.
Special task police forces are maintaining security at the site. "Representatives of the prosecutor's office permanently warn the organizers about responsibility for holding an unsanctioned rally via loudspeakers," said Rinat Shamsutdinov, deputy head of the city administration.
On February 13, one of the opposition leaders, Altynbek Sarsenbayev, his aide and his driver were found dead 3 kilometers away from Almaty. A senior member of the Kazakh parliament's upper chamber and five officers of the National Security Committee (NSC) were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the crime. NSC head Nartai Durbayev submitted resignation and opposition leaders demanded that the upper chamber's speaker, Nurtan Abykayev, also retire, fearing that he might influence the investigation.
