ASTANA. April 12 (Interfax) - The police officers who detained oil workers protesting in Astana acted in accordance with the law, Kazakh Deputy Prosecutor General Zhandos Umiraliyev said.
"The police acted in compliance with the law, and we do not find any violations in their conduct. The procedure, the algorithm envisaged by law has been complied with," Umiraliyev told reporters in the parliament on Wednesday.
"Designated agencies held numerous meetings. Following actions of the designated agencies, the prosecution service spent two days explaining the law after the workers turned down every proposal. What's more, a legal method was proposed to settle the problem, i.e. a negotiating process, a pre-action settlement, a settlement in court, and a legal method of holding the same demonstration with the notification of the local executive body was offered. Still, the demonstration continued. So, the police were compelled to bring them to the station in order to put an end to the administrative violations and to restore public peace," he said.
On April 10, about 150 Zhanaozen-based workers sacked by Berali Mangistau Company, an oilfield services firm, gathered in front of the Energy Ministry building in Astana and demanded that their employment be arranged with Ozenmunaigas, a subsidiary of KazMunayGas. They said they were fired because their company lost a tender. The protesters spent the night and the whole day outside. On April 11, police detained more than 100 protesters.
KazMunayGas said on Wednesday morning that all former workers of Berali Mangistau Company, detained in Astana, were released from custody and took a train to Zhanaozen.