The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
December 20, 2011

Hundreds Protest in Kazakhstan Following Fatal Police Crackdowns 
-----------------------------------------------------------------



Hundreds of people have taken to the streets of the former Soviet
republic Kazakhstan following days of sustained clashes between police
and striking oil workers. Officials say at least 14 people have died
since the unrest took hold late last week, but human rights groups claim
the number could be many times higher. On Friday, police opened fire on
oil workers participating in a six month-old strike in the city of in
the city of Zhanaozen, killing 13 people. Twenty-six year-old Arman, is
a resident of Zhanaozen, where the second day of violence took place.

Arman, Zhanaozen resident: "Panic started, shooting, we were standing
slightly to the side. Everybody started running, everybody was shouting.
We got frightened and started running too. I had a bullet in my stomach.
I got into intensive care, then I had a surgery."



.