Kazakh media reported on March 9 that a military court had sentenced Murat Bektanov, the country's former defense minister, to 12 years in prison. The materials of the case are classified, it is only known that the ex-minister was convicted under the article on abuse of power. Bektanov was removed from his post in January 2022, after Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev criticized him for his lack of "commanding qualities" in putting down the unrest that broke out in the country.
Political scientist Dimash Alzhanov told The Insider that the persecution of Bektanov is likely due to the fact that he did not follow some verbal orders from the president during the January 2022 crackdown.
“There is no clarity in this case for the citizens of Kazakhstan either, because the information that is available to you is also available to us in Kazakhstan. There is no more information regarding the case and how the defense was built and what the former defense minister was charged with. Let's go back to the events of January, when President Tokayev gave an interview to the Khabar 24 TV channel and said that on January 5 he verbally ordered the suppression of protests and that his subordinates demanded an official statement, that is, a document that would say about permission to shoot to kill without warning. Perhaps one of the reasons for Bektanov's arrest is that he did not follow the president's verbal instructions during the crackdown.
On January 11, the Cabinet of Ministers was reappointed, and then Bektanov retained his post, he was removed from office only on January 19. I believe that here, given the lack of complete information and based on the words of the president and his insults to his subordinates, it can be assumed that Bektanov did not follow some of the orders that were given to him orally during the days of the suppression of protests.
What was his role in the events of that time, I definitely cannot say, because there is no independent investigation. As in Russia, the prosecution authorities are politicized, they do not conduct independent investigations, and their conclusions fit into the narrative that the Tokayev administration and he personally promoted after the January events in order to get out of this situation and hold other parties accountable.
In Kazakhstan, there are no hints of the rule of law and the principles of proportionality between punishment and crime. The current political regime, headed by the president, hides the truth, they do not want to conduct an open investigation, they do not want to involve authoritative international institutions that would add transparency and trust to this investigation.”
In January 2022, unrest swept Kazakhstan, which began with protests against rising gas prices. According to official figures, 225 people died, including 19 law enforcement officers. Thousands of people were detained and hundreds of criminal cases initiated. Protesters reported that the security forces fired on the crowd and also tortured the detainees. At the request of the authorities of Kazakhstan, a CSTO contingent arrived in the country.