Kazakhstan: activist died at the police station

34-year-old Galymzhan Kenzhebaev died at the police station in Zhanaozen. Traces of beatings were found on his body. This was announced by the head of the Kazakh unregistered opposition Democratic Party Zhanbolat Mamay.

 Galymzhan Kenzhebaev is the son of Bazarbai Kenzhebaev, who died on December 21, 2011 as a result of torture received in a temporary detention center during Zhanaozen’s events. According to Zhanbolat Mamay, he met with Galymzhan a few months ago and he spoke in detail about what happened in Zhanaozen in December 2011.

 According to Mamay, Galmyzhan was severely beaten in Zhanaozen last week by unknown persons.

 “He was taken to a hospital where he was operated on. Doctors didn’t inform Galymzhan’s family and friends that he was hospitalized and underwent surgery. On Sunday, Galymzhan, who hadn’t yet recovered from a complex operation on his head, was taken to the police station by the police officers, allegedly to testify. What testimony was discussed, no one knows. Why was the person, who didn’t recover from the operation, taken to the police? How could doctors allow the police officers to pick up the patient who wasn’t discharged from the hospital? Some time later, after Galymzhan Kenzhebaev was brought to the police station, he died. Only after that the police called Zhanaozen’s activist and reported that the son of Bazarbai Kenzhebaev had died at their police station,” Mamay said.

 He also noted that he had photographs of Galymzhan’s body, which show that he was severely beaten before his death.

 “They are so shocking that I decided not to publish them on social networks,” Mamay explains.

He also called on the authorities to immediately initiate criminal proceedings against the police officers, who took Galymzhan away, and against the doctors, who allowed the patient to be taken away immediately after the operation.

 “Or was it all done on purpose to remove another witness of torture in Zhanaozen? Galymzhan Bazarbayev saw with his own eyes his tortured father Bazarbai and his sister Asem, who also died suddenly after she told about the torture in the police station,” Mamay added.

On December 16-17, 2011 in Zhanaozen, there were riots among employees of subsidiaries of the state oil and gas company “KazMunayGas”. Oil-industry workers demanded higher wages and better living conditions. Then, they began to demand the President’s resignation.

According to the official version, it was a common labor dispute, which was used by bandit elements to achieve their criminal plans.

“It was the most commonplace dispute between workers and employers in the world. It could have been resolved, but criminal elements, pursuing their own personal goals, made this clash with bloodshed,” the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, said later at the meeting with journalists in Austria.

In the opinion of the opposition, the authorities suppressed the peaceful rally, using all methods for this, including the use of weapons. As a result of open fire by police officers at the protesters, 16 people died, more than 100 people were injured. According to unofficial data, the number of dead was much more.

Bazarbai Kenzhebaev lived with his family in the village of Kyzyl Sai, located 20 minutes from Zhanaozen. On December 16, he went to the city to visit his youngest daughter Zhadyra, who gave birth to a girl that day.

Despite the fact that Bazarbai Kenzhebaev had nothing to do with the protesters, he was seized by law enforcement agencies and placed in a temporary detention facility. There he and other detainees were severely beaten and tortured. After the temporary detention center, Kenzhebaev was taken to the hospital. On December 19, he was discharged. On December 21, Kenzhebaev died. A year later, unable to bear grief from the loss of her husband, his wife Telektes Kematbaeva also died. Three years later, his daughter Asem, who was also tortured during the tragedy in Zhanaozen, also died. Now the eldest son Galymzhan is also gone.

According to Zhanbolat Mamay, people will still learn the truth about what happened in Zhanaozen in December 2011, whatever the authorities do to prevent this.