Kazakhstan dictatorship kills, imprisons workers

This video is called Kazakhstan Oil Workers (August 12 2011).

By Clara Weiss:

Workers put on trial after police massacre in Kazakhstan

27 April 2012

Thirty-seven workers and political activists have been put on trial following a brutal intervention by police on December 16 in the Kazakh city Zhanaozen, which left at least 17 striking oil workers dead and hundreds wounded.

Twenty-five of the accused are charged with participating in mass unrest, the destruction and theft of private property and the use of force against government representatives. The remaining 12 defendants, who include Vladimiz Kozlov, the leader of the liberal opposition party Alga, are accused of “inciting social discord.”

The massacre was a response by the government to a month-long strike by thousands of oil workers in Zhanaozen. The demands of the workers included better wages for themselves as well as for local teachers and doctors, and the resignation of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The oil company Ozenmunaigaz had fired 1,800 workers because of the strike. The demonstration in December demanded their reemployment.