Reports: Dozens detained at Kazakhstan opposition protests

MOSCOW – Police in Kazakhstan have detained demonstrators at a series of protests around the country.

News reports said dozens of protesters were seized at actions that took place Saturday in the capital of Nur-Sultan and other cities that included Almaty, Shymkent, Karaganda and Aktobe.

Authorities didn’t provide immediate numbers or details.

The protesters’ demands included the freeing of political prisoners, a ban on selling land to foreigners and removing the designation of opposition movement Democratic Choice as an extremist organization.

Kazakhstan is a former Soviet republic in Central Asia. A state of the emergency declared over the coronavirus expired there last month, but human rights activists say the government used the pandemic to stifle dissent.