Dozens Detained As Police Block Opposition Rallies in Kazakhstan

More than 100 people planning to attend opposition rallies in Nur-Sultan and other Kazakh cities on February 22 were detained by police, who were deployed in large numbers in a show of force to halt the unsanctioned events. Activists of the outlawed opposition movement Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) told RFE/RL in the Kazakh capital that they came out to draw attention to low standards of living and growing inequality. Earlier, the Prosecutor-General's office had urged citizens not to take part in what it called "illegal" rallies planned by the DVK. The DVK was banned by a Kazakh court as extremist in 2018.