Police in Kazakhstan Detain Demonstrators on Election Day
Police in Kazakhstan detained protesters demanding fair elections in Almaty, the country’s largest city, as voters cast ballots in a snap presidential election on November 20, according to reports.
Footage taken by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) captures members of the movement Algha, Qazaqstan! unfurling a banner that read, “Will we live to see fair elections?”
Kazakhs were voting in a presidential election that had been originally scheduled for 2024 but moved earlier because of ongoing unrest.
According to RFE/RL, a “few dozen” demonstrators were detained by police for “several hours.” The group had tried several times, unsuccessfully, to register as a political party, the news service said.
Votes at the time of poll closures indicated incumbent President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev would remain in power. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via Storyful
Video Transcript
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- [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH] Kazakhstan! [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH] Kazakhstan! [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH] Kazakhstan!
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