15 May 2002
PAVLODAR CITIZENS STUNNED BY MASSACRE AT ORPHANAGE
Police and fire-fighters found the bodies of two teenagers and four adults on the premises of the Pavlodar Oblast Orphanage late on 14 May. The two teenagers were inmates of the orphanage and the four adults were employed there. Nataliya Liubimova of Pavlodar Oblast Police Department told RFE/RL that three orphanage inmates aged 16 -17 stabbed the six persons and tried to set fire to the building. They were subsequently apprehended by police in a nearby forest and have confessed to the crime, which they said they were driven to by the harsh conditions in the orphanage. Liubimova said that the three used knives and a kitchen axe to commit the killings and daubed "Vera, I Love You" in blood on one of the orphanage walls.
MUKHTAR ABLIYAZOV'S LAWYERS HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE
Guliam Mazanov, Marat Alzhekeyev, Galina Nemirovskaya, who represent former Minister of Industry and Trade Mukhtar Abliyazov, told a press conference in Astana's Press Club on May 15 that the investigation into Abliyazov's case was completed on 7 May, and Abliyazov has been given all the documents pertaining to it, which he is now studying. Abliyazov, who is a leading member of the opposition movement Democratic Choice for Kazakhstan, is accused of financial abuses, but his lawyers and colleagues say that all the accusations against him are politically motivated.
Alzhekeyev dismissed as "ridiculous" press reports that Abliyazov has allegedly confessed to the crimes with which he is charged. Alzhekeyev said none of the accusations has yet been proven. He also said that it is very likely that Abliyazov's trial will be held behind closed doors.
LEADERS OF RECENTLY REGISTERED "RUSSIAN PARTY" PLEDGE TO PROTECT RIGHTS OF ALL CITIZENS
Leaders of the recently registered "Russkaya Partiya" (Russian Party) held a press conference in Almaty on 15 May at which they said that their party will do its best to protect the rights of all the citizens of independent Kazakhstan. Party chairman Gennadii Beliyakov said that his party will participate in future presidential elections. He also said that his party is against the U.S. military presence in Central Asia in general and in Kazakhstan in particular.
Former Vice-Chairman of the Alash Party (Kazakh National Party) Zhaqsybay Bazylbayev was announced as the Russian Party's Vice-Chairman. Bazylbayev tried to participate in the January 1999 presidential election. He asked journalists not to be surprised that he is Vice-Chairman of Russian Party, of which he said he was one of the co-founders. Bazylbayev also said that the Russian Party of Kazakhstan is the only political party in the country which has a special program on supporting Kazakh as Kazakhstan's state language.