Three police officers from the Almaty region of Kazakhstan admitted to torturing detainees with an iron during the January protests. In total, five police officers were involved in the case. This was announced by the head of the criminal prosecution service of the Prosecutor General's Office Serik Shalabaev.

According to him, 25 people were recognized as victims of torture with an iron.

“Most of the victims cannot identify the persons involved, because the latter were wearing masks or without uniforms. There are no video materials on the cases, since the equipment was damaged as a result of attacks on police buildings,” Shalabaev said.

He also said that the investigation into the death of the detainee from beatings had been completed. The suspects are two employees of the department of the National Security Committee of the Almaty region. According to Shalabaev, eight cases of torture are currently being investigated, in which 15 employees of special and law enforcement agencies are suspected. Nine of them are in custody.

Detainees during the January protests spoke about their experiences of torture to The Insider. They were tied with ropes, beaten, forced to confess to stealing weapons. Some had their teeth pulled out with pliers: “They pulled out absolutely healthy teeth, they couldn’t pull them out, because they were root teeth. But now they are loosened, so new false teeth and implants are needed. Many do not believe, but he himself showed us.”