Mothers Of Conscripts Killed And Injured In The Army Appeal To Presidential Administration

Parents of servicemen who died or were injured in Kazakhstan's army once again gathered outside the citizens’ reception office of the Presidential Administration, Orda.kz reports.

Military prosecutors and representatives of the Ministry of Defense came out to meet with the parents.

We expressed our complaints again, asked questions. We once more listed all the violations during the investigation into the killing of our sons. For the tenth time, we explained how these cases are reclassified as suicides or accidents, even though we have enough evidence that they were killed,  said Indira Tuganbayeva, mother of conscript Almas Shakhimov.

According to the official version, a tent collapsed on him, but an independent expert found stab wounds on his body.

Also among the protesters was Ulan Musayev, who was left with a first-group disability after suffering a gunshot wound to the head during his military service.

He now remains confined to a wheelchair.

For three years, Ulan’s mother, Gulmira Makazhanova, has been appealing to the Ministry of Defense and the Military Investigative Department, seeking a fair investigation and state support for her son’s rehabilitation.

Dozens of other grieving parents continue to demand answers from the ministry and the army leadership — the very institutions to which they once entrusted their healthy young sons.

There is no progress in our cases. Some cases are closed ‘quietly,’ and we are not even informed. We said that we came in peace for the last time. If no steps are taken toward an objective investigation, we are already in despair and ready to kill ourselves. Do we really have to set ourselves on fire to be heard? In our country, it seems that someone must die before the system begins to act, added Indira Tuganbayeva.

The parents of the dead and injured soldiers were promised a meeting with the Ministry of Defense in the near future. They hope they will finally be able to convey the truth and secure a fair investigation.

The parents have previously protested outside the House of Ministries and submitted an appeal to the president, but so far, there has been no significant progress in the cases of soldier deaths and serious injuries.

Original Author: Anastasia Prilepskaya