Allegedly Treasonous, Former Kazakhstan Security Officer Karim Massimov Arrested

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JAKARTA - Authorities in Kazakhstan have detained Karim Massimov, the former head of the National Security Committee (NSC), on suspicion of treason, the committee said on Saturday, January 8. Massimov was sacked this week as protests erupted in the Central Asian country. He was detained along with a number of other officials, the NSC said in a statement. It did not name the other officials or provide further details. Reuters was unable to contact Massimov. Dozens of people were killed and public buildings in Kazakhstan were ransacked and burned in the worst series of violence the ex-Soviet country has endured during its 30 years of independence. In the days of violence, security forces appear to have taken over the streets of Kazakhstan's main city in Friday. Russia-backed President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said he had ordered soldiers to shoot dead rioters to quell uprisings across the country. At Tokayev's invitation, the Russian-led military alliance has been deployed at a time of heightened tension in East-West relations.

Russia and the United States are preparing to hold talks on the Ukraine crisis next week. Massimov is widely known as a close ally of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev. He has twice served as prime minister and served as head of the presidential secretariat under Nazarbayev. Nazarbayev, 81, was the longest-serving ruler in the former Soviet state before handing Tokayev the presidency in 2019. The Nazarbayev family is believed to still have influence in Nur- Sultan, the capital city of the country built specifically to bear his name.