NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakh officials have given contradicting death tolls from the anti-government protests in January that led to the removal of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his relatives from the country's political scene.
Prosecutor-General Berik Asylov said on March 14 that 230 people, including 19 police officers, died during the unrest in early January that was violently dispersed by law enforcement and armed forces.
According to Asylov, 139 people were killed in the country's largest city, Almaty, where the violence was the worst.
However, Ombudswoman Elvira Azimova said at a parliament session on March 14 that the number of people killed during the unrest was 238.
She later told RFE/RL that the figure she gave included those who died in police custody after they were detained, some wounded, following the unrest.
Kazakh officials said earlier that 227 people died in the violence.
Thousands of people were detained after the protests, which President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said were caused by "20,000 terrorists" from abroad, a claim for which the authorities have provided no evidence.
The unrest occurred after a peaceful demonstration in the tightly controlled Central Asian country's western Manghystau region on January 2 over a fuel-price hike led to widespread protests.
Human rights groups say the number killed was much higher than any of the figures provided by officials. The groups provided evidence showing that peaceful demonstrators and people who had nothing to do with the protests were among those killed by law enforcement and military personnel.
There also were reports that people in custody were tortured by the police.
The Prosecutor-General's Office said on March 2 that 62 people arrested over the deadly unrest had been sentenced to various prison terms.
