ASTANA, February 26 (RIA Novosti) - First clashes with police occurred as an unsanctioned opposition rally continued in southeastern Kazakhstan Sunday, demanding fair investigations into recent political murders.
According to the press service of opposition movement For a Fair Kazakhstan, the demonstrators marched towards the center of Almaty and clashed with police when the latter tried to use force against them, as the rally had only been authorized to be held in one of the city's neighborhoods but not in the center.
Several thousand protesters demanding fair investigation into the recent murders of an opposition leader and his aides and the prosecution of those guilty, made their way through several ranks of police into Republic's Square. The press service said some 400-500 officers of special task police forces lined up in front of the Mayor's Office. "It is not clear if they are going to cordon off the area or attack the crowd," the source said.
"Although some instigators have been trying to provoke disturbances, the rally is going on in an orderly way," the press service said.
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.
