Police in Kazakhstan detain dozens amid rage over activist’s death

Police in Kazakhstan have detained dozens of people in the Central Asian country's largest city Sunday, after an activist's death in jail triggered diplomatic condemnation and calls for anti-government rallies.

According to AFP, its correspondents in Almaty saw around 40 people detained by police close to the city hall, where two opposition groups had called for anti-government rallies.

Elsewhere in the city, 26 members of Oyan Qazaqstan, one of the groups that called for a rally, were detained in the morning before they had a chance to reach the protest site, a member of the group told AFP.

The protests were called after Dulat Agadil, a prominent activist, died in detention hours after he was detained by plainclothes police on Monday night.

Activists have cited video footage of Agadil's corpse with bruises as evidence that he was beaten in detention, rather than dying of heart failure, as police said on Tuesday.

The state prosecutor's office on Friday called on citizens not to make "hasty conclusions" about the bruises, which the office said was common on corpses.

Kazakhstan regularly cracks down on citizens who attempt to hold rallies, citing laws that make public assemblies subject to permits from the authorities.

The country is in the process of changing its legislation on public assemblies, and a draft of the new law has been released for public discussion.

SS