Kazakhstan’s law enforcement officers have apprehended 970 suspects when investigating criminal cases of the recent unrest, Yeldos Kilimzhanov, an official of Kazakhstan’s General Prosecutor’s Office, said on Saturday.

 

"To date, the investigative team [of the Prosecutor General’s Office] is looking into 819 criminal cases, including 45 [cases] of terrorism, 36 of mass riots, and 15 more of homicide. Investigations into facts of robbery, theft, weapons theft and violence against law enforcers are ongoing. A total of 970 suspects have been detained under these cases. Of those, 782 have been remanded in custody by the sanction of courts, and 29 more suspects are placed under house arrest," he said.

 

According to Kilimzhanov, the largest number, 464 individuals, have been arrested under the charges of terrorism and mass riots.

 

Earlier, Interior Minister Yerlan Turgumbayev reported that 1,822 criminal cases were opened into terrorism, homicide, the use of violence against public officials, hooliganism, attacks on government buildings, and other crimes.

 

Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots with attacks against police and military personnel. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said there was a government coup attempt. The situation was stabilized by January 7 and the state of emergency lifted on January 19. The authorities say the unrest left 225 dead and more than 4,500 affected.

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