Almaty, Kazakhstan
A Kazakh opposition party accused the government of killing its leader this week. Altynbek Sarsenbaev of the For a Just Kazakhstan Party was found shot in the back of the head, execution-style, his hands tied behind his back. A prominent figure in Kazakh politics, Sarsenbaev had served twice as the head of the Information Ministry and once as ambassador to Russia before he quit in 2004 to protest rigged elections. He was the second opposition leader to be killed in recent months. Last November, Zamanbek Nurkadilov, like Sarsenbaev a vocal critic of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, was found shot dead in his Almaty apartment. Nazarbayev has ordered an investigation into the killings.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Quiz of The Week: 3 – 9 JanuaryQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Is Elon Musk’s AI tool a platform for abuse?Podcast Plus can Mumsnet predict who will be the next PM? And who is still watching Avatar sequels?
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A fireman's ladder, a race through the desert, and more
