, to 12 years of imprisonment in a high-security prison

on charges of abuse of power during the dispersal of protests in January 2022.

Murat Bektanov was relieved of his post on January 19, 2022, shortly after the January protests, which were brutally suppressed by the military and police.

According to the General Prosecutor's Office of the country, 238 people died then, 20 of them "accidentally came under fire."

The authorities of Kazakhstan have not yet announced the list of the dead across the country.

Radio "Azatyk" published the names of 188 victims.

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In February 2022, Bektanov was detained on the charge of failure to fulfill his duties by an official.

Later, his actions were reclassified as an excess of power, which entailed serious consequences.

According to the version of the investigation, during the state of emergency, Bektanov "gave illegal orders and left military strategic objects unattended", and allegedly "did not take measures to restore constitutional order".

Mass protests in Kazakhstan began on January 4 with rallies against the rise in gas prices, then they grew into mass actions demanding the resignation of the government and the demolition of monuments to Nazarbayev,

ended on January 7 with riots in Almaty, Kustanai and other large cities, as well as the entry of CSTO troops and disconnection of the Internet in the country.

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