On Tuesday, the 21st of February, 2012, MEP Piotr Borys visited the town of Zhanaozen in Kazakhstan. During his visit he met with representatives of town administration and local residents.
Piotr Borys met with the Akim of the Mangistau Province Baurzhan Mukhamedzhanov, with whom he discussed issues of general situation in Kazakhstan, cooperation in the economic sphere, the problem of employment of oil workers was also raised.
During the visit, Piotr Borys spoke in support of the participation of independent experts in the investigation of the events in Zhanaozen (Mangistau Province) on the 16th of December, 2011: “We will urge the authorities to include foreign observers in the investigation which is being conducted by the General Prosecutor’s Office”. Baurzhan Mukhamedzhanov commented on the words of Borys by referring to the legislation: “Kazakhstan would like to carry out the investigation itself, because it is an element of the country’s sovereignty. Moreover, we have received the guarantees of transparency and openness of the investigation ”.
During the meeting with the residents, Piotr Borys Boris listened to testimonies about the tragic events of the 16th of December, 2011.
A part of a video record from the meeting of Piotr Borys with the residents of the Mangistau Province is available on youtube.com. In the video, a testimony of Tamara Yergazeva is captured. According to her words, her husband Zhanbyr Yergazev was injured during the dispersion of oil workers demonstration by the police. Also, in the video there is Nurkiya Bekbolatova, the sister of the detained Naryn Zharylgasynov and his mother Tapesh Osmanova as well as Asem Bazarbaeva, the daughter of Bazarbay Kenzhebaev who died after being heavily beaten in the Municipal Department of the Interior in Zhanaozen.
