The former Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces of Kazakhstan has been detained and arrested by court order in connection with the tragic death of 14 servicemen during military exercises in the Caspian Sea.
Sea-news.az citing TASS, that the statement was issued by the Press Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Kazakhstan.
“Within the framework of the criminal investigation into the death of servicemen during exercises in the Caspian Sea, the military investigation unit of the MIA has detained the former Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Captain 1st Rank, for official negligence and placed him in a temporary detention facility. He has been remanded in custody with court authorization,” the ministry stated.
The ministry did not officially release the detainee’s name. However, according to the Zakon.kz portal, the detained officer is Kanat Niyazbekov, who was dismissed from his post last week. The Ministry of Defense previously reported that he commanded the Caspian Sea exercises in late September.
It should be recalled that on September 24, 17 servicemen were swept away by currents during exercises on the Caspian coast of Kazakhstan. 14 of them died, while three were rescued.
Following the incident, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered the Ministry of Defense to conduct a comprehensive investigation. He subsequently replaced the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff, and relieved the Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces of his duties.
The criminal investigation is ongoing. As previously reported by the MIA, the accused parties also include the First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces and several officials from the Ministry of Defense.-
