Kazakh ex-police officer gets five years for torture

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  City court No 2 in Pavlodar has sentenced a former police officer to five years in prison for torturing a detainee, the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency learnt at the city prosecutor's office on January 12, 2011
  
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  The united checkpoint, Tazhen, located in Kazakhstan's Mangistau Region on the Uzbek border has switched to the round-the-clock operation, the regional customs control directorate has said on January 12, 2011.
  
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  Kazakh Ambassador Beybut Atamkulov has presented his credentials to Philippines President Benigno Semeon Aquino, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry press service said on January 12, 2011.
  
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  a criminal investigation into the murder of Sayat Shulembayev, a journalist working for the Stan.kz Internet portal, have been submitted to the court, the Prosecutor-General's Office spokesman, Zhandos Umiraliyev, said on January 12, 2011.
  
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  Yevgeniy Rakhimzhanov has become the new editor-in-chief of the Kazakh newspaper Svoboda Slova [Freedom of Speech] on January 12, 2011.
  
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  A national coalition of democratic forces has been set up in Kazakhstan to support the national referendum on extending the tenure of the first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first deputy chairman of the Nur Otan ruling party, Nurlan Nigmatulin, said on January 12, 2011.
  

Pavlodar, 12 January: City court No 2 in Pavlodar (administrative centre in Kazakhstan's Pavlodar Region) has sentenced a former police officer to five years in prison for torturing a detainee, the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency learnt at the city prosecutor's office today.

The source said the convict worked as an investigation officer in 2001 and together with his colleague illegally arrested the citizen and demanded that he plea guilty in hijacking several cars and other crimes, which he had never committed.

[Passage omitted: during interrogation he had tortured the suspect]

Kazakh-Uzbek border checkpoint starts round-the-clock operation

Almaty, 12 January: The united checkpoint, Tazhen, located in Kazakhstan's Mangistau Region on the Uzbek border has switched to the round-the-clock operation, the regional customs control directorate has said.

[Passage omitted: the checkpoint started working round-the-clock from 10 January 2011]

Source: Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty, in Russian 1005 gmt 12 Jan 11


New Kazakh envoy to Philippines appointed

Excerpt from report by privately-owned Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency

Astana, 12 January: Kazakh Ambassador Beybut Atamkulov has presented his credentials to Philippines President Benigno Semeon Aquino, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry press service has said.

[Passage omitted: the sides discussed cooperation between the two countries]

Source: Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty, in Russian 0752 gmt 12 Jan 11

Kazakh journalist murder case sent to court - prosecutor

Excerpt from report by privately-owned Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency

Astana, 12 January: [The files of] a criminal investigation into the murder of Sayat Shulembayev, a journalist working for the Stan.kz Internet portal, have been submitted to the court, the Prosecutor-General's Office spokesman, Zhandos Umiraliyev, has said.

"The murder case of the Stan Internet publication journalist, Sayat Shulembayev, has been uncovered by the prosecutor's office and the case [files] have been submitted to the court," he said at a news briefing in Astana today.

Umiraliyev said the investigation established that the crime had been committed with mercenary motives to appropriate Shulembayev's property.

[Passage omitted: Shulembayev was knifed in his flat in Almaty in December 2009]

Source: Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty, in Russian 0923 gmt 12 Jan 11

Kazakh opposition newspaper get new chief editor

Excerpt from report by privately-owned Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency

Almaty, 12 January: Yevgeniy Rakhimzhanov has become the new editor-in-chief of the Kazakh newspaper Svoboda Slova [Freedom of Speech].

"There have been talks. I was offered (to become the newspaper's editor-in-chief) and I did not refuse," Rakhimzhanov told Interfax-Kazakhstan today.

According to him, the conception and policy of the publication will not change. Svoboda Slova will further "try to supply true, important and socially useful information to readers with maximum objectivity", Rakhimzhanov noted.

Also, the newspaper's editorial office said that the new editor-in-chief had already been introduced to his staff and he would start work soon.

The Svoboda Slova weekly considers itself as an opposition media resource.

[Passage omitted: Rakhimzhanov has worked for some Kazakh newspapers before]

Source: Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty, in Russian 0547 gmt 12 Jan 11

Coalition of democratic forces set up in Kazakhstan to back referendum

Text of report by privately-owned Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency

Astana, 12 January: A national coalition of democratic forces has been set up in Kazakhstan to support the national referendum on extending the tenure of the first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first deputy chairman of the Nur Otan ruling party, Nurlan Nigmatulin, has said.

"Today the Nur Otan party has announced that the national coalition of democratic forces, Kazakhstan-2020, has been set up. And a reason for this was the initiative to hold a national referendum to extend the tenure of the first Kazakh president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, till 2020, which has been supported by millions of Kazakh citizens," Nigmatulin said at a briefing in Astana today.

Therefore, he called on all the political and public forces in the country "to join the coalition for the initiative" to hold the referendum, and thus, "to demonstrate the consolidated support of the entire civil society and all Kazakh people for the initiative to extend the tenure of the Leader of the Nation".