ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Relatives of Kazakh citizens who were handed lengthy prison terms on charges of taking part in mass disorder and stealing firearms during unprecedented anti-government protests in January that left at least 238 people dead have demanded their release or a retrial.
Close family members, including mothers and wives, made their demands at a press conference held in Almaty on August 18 that was attended by Rysbek Sarsenbaiuly, a member of the Public Commission investigating the January unrest.
Kazakhstan's Prosecutor-General's Office has said that more than 10,000 people were arrested following the January bloodshed, and more than 5,300 individuals were charged. To date, 834 people have been sentenced to various prison terms in quick trials.
Sarsenbaiuly said the investigations were poorly conducted with violations of law, adding that many suspects were severely beaten and tortured while in custody.
Bayan Shyrynbekova, whose husband was sentenced last month to six years in prison on a charge of stealing two firearms from a store in Almaty during the unrest, told the press conference that her husband had to sign a written confession after he was "beaten and tortured" by investigators.
Gulfaria Tangirbergenova said that her son was sentenced in May to five years in prison on a charge of stealing firearms as well.
Tangirbergenova denied that her son had stolen a firearm, saying he found a rifle on the ground during the unrest. She also said her son was severely beaten while in custody and she demanded that he be retried.
Several other speakers at the press conference shared similar ordeals about their close relatives.
A day earlier, the Kazakh Bureau on Human Rights and the Rule of Law issued a statement claiming that 71 percent of the people arrested during and after the January unrest were tortured while in custody.
Meanwhile, on August 16, Eldos Qilymzhanov, a top official with the Prosecutor-General's Office, said six individuals who were detained during the riots had died as a result of “illegal methods of interrogation by law enforcement structures.”
He said that 15 law enforcement officers were under investigation for those deaths.
Qilymzhanov said his office has concluded that 238 people were killed during and after the unrest. However, Kazakh human rights groups claim they have evidence showing that this number is much higher.
The unrest led to the removal of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his relatives from Kazakh politics. Some relatives have been stripped of their posts, lost influential positions at companies, or have even been arrested on corruption charges.
Kazakh authorities have rejected calls by Kazakh and global human rights groups for an international probe into the events in January.