Atyrau, 2 November. The National Security Committee (KNB) has detained 10 people in Atyrau on suspicion of creating an extremist group which, according to the investigation, wanted to change the foundations of the constitutional order in western Kazakhstan by force, the KNB press service reported.
The detentions took place on 30 October with the coordination of the prosecutor’s office; the statement was published on 2 November. The suspects are described as creators and members of an extremist group, including those who led it, and are also suspected of propagating terrorism and inciting religious hatred. Searches of their homes turned up firearms, drugs, religious paraphernalia, literature and other evidence. The activity of three underground training centres for children and teenagers, which according to the KNB were created by members of the group, has been stopped. Several of its members had earlier been convicted of terrorist and ordinary criminal offences. The rest of the information, the statement says, may not be disclosed under Article 201 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The KNB statement itself contains neither “coup” nor “coup attempt”. The agency writes of an aim of “forcibly changing the foundations of the constitutional order” in a single region and notes that this is the investigation’s version. The Russian word “госпереворот” (“coup”) appeared in retellings outside Kazakhstan. Lenta.ru headed its item “В Казахстане предотвратили госпереворот” (“A coup was prevented in Kazakhstan”), the agency REGNUM “КНБ Казахстана сообщил о предотвращении госпереворота” (“Kazakhstan’s KNB reported a coup prevented”), and the Kyrgyz portal 24.kg “В Казахстане предотвратили попытку госпереворота. Задержаны 10 человек” (“A coup attempt was prevented in Kazakhstan. Ten detained”); the English renderings are translations. Lenta.ru and 24.kg both refer to Tengrinews, so, judging by these items, the wording came from a retelling of the statement in a Kazakh outlet rather than from the agency itself.
The difference is not empty. In the list of suspicions named by the KNB there is no separate item about forcibly changing the constitutional order: it is described as the group’s aim in the investigation’s version, while the suspicions named are creating an extremist group, propagating terrorism and inciting religious hatred. Which articles of the Criminal Code are being applied the agency did not specify.
What it means: “Госпереворот” is a word of foreign headlines and retellings, not the KNB’s wording. The agency speaks of an aim that the investigation ascribes to an extremist group and names suspicions of extremism, propagating terrorism and religious hatred. A reader who searches for the story by the word “госпереворот” will find the same event here.
What we know now: Ten people have been detained; only the KNB has reported the suspicion, and there is no independent confirmation. The names, ages and home towns of those detained, and what exactly they are accused of doing, are not given. Nothing is reported about preventive measures or the length of the investigation.
We have also reported that the KNB detained 10 people in Atyrau on suspicion of creating an extremist group.
