Police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have detained several protesting homeowners who had threatened to stage a hunger strike.
Some 15 homeowners and activists of the Provide People With Housing movement gathered in front of the ATF Bank in Almaty on July 15, demanding revisions of their mortgage interest rates and challenging pending foreclosures and evictions.
The protesters demanded a meeting with the bank's chairman and threatened to stage a mass hunger strike in front of the bank's headquarters.
Police forcibly removed several of the protesters, including the movement's chairwoman, Sulubike Zhaqsylyqova.
Homeowners across Kazakhstan have staged a number of protests, demanding their loans be revised after the National Bank announced a 19-percent devaluation of the national currency, the tenge, in February.