A dead man handcuffed with two bullet wounds, and a man with head injuries from a grenade taken out of a hospital by soldiers -- Kazakhs tell their stories of the ongoing crackdown following violent anti-government unrest that shook the country at the beginning of January.
Kazakhstan is tense, with closed shops and a sense of lawlessness as Russian-led forces are on the move to shore up the authorities after days of anti-government protests swept the country. Reporters from Current Time describe the mood in two Kazakh cities: Almaty and Nur-Sultan.
A steep rise in energy prices appears to have triggered protests across Kazakhstan that resulted in mass arrests, the dismissal of the government, and the declaration of a state of emergency. We take a closer look at what's driving the crisis in Kazakhstan.
Desperate relatives are waiting in line for hours for an overwhelmed Kazakh morgue to release the bodies of their loved ones, raising questions about the country's COVID-19 data. Official statistics show hundreds of deaths related to COVID-19 and more than 1,000 dead from "pneumonia." But Chinese news reports about a form of pneumonia in Kazakhstan that is deadlier than the coronavirus have been dismissed by the Kazakh Health Ministry as "fake news."
A video of Kazakhs criticizing aspects of life in their country went viral and sparked a widespread debate ahead of June's presidential election.
Kazakh activists received jail terms and fines for posting a banner calling for fair presidential elections on the sidelines of the Almaty marathon. Amnesty International is calling the detainees prisoners of conscience.
