ALMATY, Jan.8 (Reuters) – Kazakh authorities on Saturday announced the arrest of Karim Massimov, former head of Kazakhstan’s national security committee, on suspicion of treason, as the former Soviet republic is rocked by its biggest crisis in 30 years.
Karim Massimov, sacked this week from his post, was arrested with several other officials, according to the committee, which did not specify the identity of the other detainees.
Reuters could not immediately contact Karim Massimov. The latter was also Prime Minister of Kazakhstan twice and worked with Nursultan Nazarbayev, the man who ruled the country with an iron fist until 2019 before relinquishing the presidency to Kassim-Jomart Tokaev.
The protests in Kazakhstan, which killed a dozen people, were triggered against a backdrop of inflation and rising energy prices.
After several days of violence, security forces appeared to have resumed control of the streets of Kazakhstan’s main city, Almaty, on Friday.
According to the Minister of the Interior, more than 4,400 people have been arrested since the start of the packs. (Report Olzhas Asezov Almaty and Tamara Vaal Nur-Sultan; with the contribution of Gabrielle Ttrault-Farber Moscow; French version Claude Chendjou)