Kazakhstan: 225 corpses in the country’s morgues during the riots

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The bodies of 225 people killed during violent incidents in Kazakhstan last week, including 19 members of the security forces, have been taken to the country’s morgue, the attorney general’s office said today.

That number includes civilians and armed “fighters” who were killed by security forces, said Serik Salabayev, head of the prosecutor’s office’s criminal prosecution department.

Violent protests erupted in the Central Asian oil-producing country this month over the accuracy and price of gas.

Salabayev’s death toll confirms that these bloody riots were the deadliest in the country in the post-Soviet period.

According to him, 50,000 people took part in the riots across the country at their peak on January 5 when crowds stormed government buildings and set them on fire, as well as burning cars, banks and shops in many major cities.

President Kasim-Yomart Tokayev turned to a Russian-led military bloc for help during the unrest and ousted his former mentor and predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who himself took over the leadership of the National Security Council.

Following allegations of beatings and torture of detainees, Tokayev on Saturday ordered police to refrain from ill-treatment and called on prosecutors to be lenient with those who have not committed serious crimes.

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