Some buildings of NSC departments left unprotected during Jan 2022 riots – Prosecutor General
«I would like to dwell on the facts of abuse of power by the heads of regional law enforcement agencies. At the height of the riots, almost all the personnel of the departments of the National Security Committee of Almaty city, Almaty and Kyzylorda regions left their buildings,» Berik Assylov said.
He noted that as per the investigators’ data, on January 5, a written order was received from the NSC Deputy Chairman Anuar Sadykulov on leaving the building.
«At the direction of Karim Massimov, the buildings of the NSC departments of Almaty city and Kyzylorda region were left unprotected. The buildings of the police departments of Almaty and Zhambyl regions were left as well at the command of the leadership. These leaders showed lack of determination, which partially demoralized the personnel. As a result, timely measures were not taken to curb the riots,» he noted.
According to him, Almaty and Taldykorgan were completely in the hands of armed bandits for two days.
«A whole arsenal fell into their hands: almost 3,000 units of rifles, pistols, sniper rifles and tens of thousands of ammunition. Through the fault of these leaders, the most dangerous rifle guns turned out to be in hands of the rioters,» Berik Assylov said.
As per the data announced, criminal cases against the ex-leaders of three regional NSC departments, police department of Almaty region and other persons were submitted to the courts.
«The degree of their culpability and the measure of punishment will be determined by the court. The criminal case against ex-Chief of Zhambyl region’s police department was dropped for his death,» he concluded.
Photo: REUTERS/MARIYA GORDEYEVA