© KEYSTONE/AP/Vladimir Tretyakov
As a result of serious unrest in Kazakhstan, more than 5,000 people have been arrested, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday morning. The judicial authorities have opened an investigation once morest them.
They have contributed to the degradation of more than 100 shopping centers and bank branches, according to the ministry. More than 400 vehicles, including many police cars, were also demolished in the riots.
Meanwhile, the authorities are trying to keep the situation going. The Ministry of Commerce announced on Sunday, according to the Russian news agency TASS, that the supply of remote areas with basic foodstuffs had been assured. According to the Energy Ministry, deliveries of fuel and gas have resumed.
The suddenness and intensity of these riots sparked a shock in Kazakhstan, a country of 19 million people rich in natural resources, renowned for its stable and authoritarian government.
The authorities had initially tried to calm the demonstrations, without success, by conceding a drop in the price of gas, by sacking the government and by establishing a state of emergency and a night curfew throughout the country.
Beyond the rise in prices, the anger of the demonstrators is directed in particular towards the authoritarian former president Nursultan Nazarbaïev. Aged 81, he ruled the country from 1989 to 2019 and retains great influence. He is considered the mentor of the current president.
