Protesters marched on the center of Almaty today demanding a fair investigation into the murder of Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly. The number of reported protesters ranges from 1,000 according to the AP to “several thousand” according to RIA Novosti. Reuters reports that local authorities were up to no good from the beginning.
Local authorities appeared to inflame the crowd by playing loud pop music and organising a display of rally car stunt driving on a square outside the Academy of Sciences, where the opposition had said it would hold Sunday’s rally.
Riot police warned the crowd not to march on the city center, and clashes did break out.
As the crowd moved along a main street in Almaty towards Republic Square as an alternative venue, minor scuffles broke out between some protesters, many of them pensioners chanting “murderers”, and riot police trying to block the way.
The AP says that police did not try to disperse the crowd and that protesters crossed police lines several times during the protest. Photos from Reuters make it look like the police did try at times to keep the crowds back.
{ 4 trackbacks }
Comments on this entry are closed.