ASTANA (TCA) — Police in Kazakhstan’s capital hunted for people holding blue balloons during Norouz new year celebrations on March 22, following fugitive opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov’s Facebook call for Kazakhs to express support for his banned movement by displaying blue balloons, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported.
RFE/RL correspondents witnessed several incidents in Astana’s central square in which people holding blue balloons were stopped and forced to go to police buses where their identities were checked and the balloons confiscated. The individuals were then released. Police officers were not able to explain why they were confiscating the balloons.
Many of those holding blue …read more
Source: The Times of Central Asia
