Former Head of Kazakhstan's National Security Committee Arrested

Former Head of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan, Karim Masimov, has been arrested on suspicion of state treason. This information was reported by RIA Novosti, citing the National Security Committee.

On January 6, the National Security Committee initiated a pre-trial investigation regarding the fact of state treason under Article 175, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

“On the same day, former Head of the National Security Committee K.K. Masimov and other individuals were arrested and transferred to a temporary detention facility on suspicion of committing this crime,” the statement reads.

Yesterday, former advisor to Kazakhstan’s first president Nursultan Nazarbayev, Yermukhamet Yertisbayev, stated that one of the causes of the crisis in the country is the betrayal by certain high-ranking officials and law enforcement officers. He characterized the events as an attempt at a coup d'état and armed rebellion, saying that the scale of the events indicates that such a thing could not have been accomplished without betrayers from the upper echelons of power.

It is noteworthy that K.K. Masimov served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan from 2007 to 2012, and from 2012 to 2014, he headed the presidential administration. From April 2014, he again led the government, holding the position after the early presidential elections held on April 26, 2015. He was appointed as the Head of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan on September 8, 2016.

On the evening of January 5 of this year, it became known that the President of the country, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, had relieved him of his duties.