Journalists from Radio Azattyk were taken to the police station along with other participants of an unauthorized protest for explanatory talks for preventive purposes. The press service of the Oktyabrsky District Department of Internal Affairs of the capital reported.

«On August 4, 2024, the Oktyabrsky District Court issued a ruling restricting rallies, protests, pickets, and marches. However, on December 23, in violation of this court ruling, a group organized an unauthorized protest near the correctional institution No. 21 of the Penitentiary Service. The incident has been registered, and a preliminary investigation has begun,» the statement says.

According to the police, during the preliminary check, participants of the protest, including journalists from Radio Azattyk, were brought to the police station and released after a talk.

Journalists from Radio Azattyk, including reporter Maksat Kutmanbekov and a cameraman Nurlan Beyshebaev, were detained outside the pretrial detention center No. 1 today, December 23. The journalists were interviewing relatives of detainees when law enforcement officers approached them, demanded to delete the recorded video, and took them to the police station.

Relatives of the defendants gathered near the pretrial detention center No. 1 because the latter had declared a hunger strike. The protest began the day before, on December 22, in all prisons and pretrial detention centers of the country against the new head of the Penitentiary Service Chyngyz Kozhoshev.

According to the relatives of the defendants, on his orders, special forces have been beating convicted and detainees since December 20.