Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed into law an amnesty for nearly all protesters involved in the riots that rocked the country in January.
What started as a protest against rising fuel prices in the west of the country turned into violence in the largest city and former capital, Almaty. Official figures indicate that 238 people have been killed in clashes between protesters and police, with authorities claiming an attempted coup by foreign “terrorists”.
Amnesty had already been announced by Tokayev in his September 1 speech. “With humanism, we as a nation will learn from this tragedy and not let it happen again”then pointed to the president.
About 1,500 of the 1,600 convicts are expected to receive amnesty, most of whom will be released by the end of the year.said the newspaper Astana times🇧🇷 Amnesty does not apply to riot organizers, terrorists and traitors and does not mean an acquittal, including an admission of guilt of those involved in exchange for a pardon.
The amnesty bill comes less than three weeks before an early presidential election on Nov. 20, in which Tokayev will seek another term and consolidate his power.
Tokayev became president in 2019, succeeding Nursultan Nazarbayev. This was in power when the country was still a Soviet republic and had led the process of independence. Despite stepping down from office, he and his family still had a lot of power in Kazakhstan.
After the riots, Tokayev took the opportunity to get rid of his predecessor’s influence, having stripped him of the title of Elbasy (head of the Kazakh nation) during the constitutional reform. This, approved in a referendum, also stipulates, for example, that the relatives of the leaders are not allowed to hold important government positions, a measure directed against the family of the former president.
Tokayev also renamed the capital, which had been named Nur-sultan shortly after his departure from power, and returned to its former name Astana (a word which in Kazakh means exactly capital).
Correction: a first draft indicated that there were police among the amnesty recipients
Source: DN
