5,000 Kazakh oil workers and their relatives are on strike on
Independence Square and Zhanaozen, CA-News reports.
The police attempted to break their camp at Ozenmunaygaz at 18.00 on
July 8. Protesters covered themselves in petrol and threatened to set
themselves on fire if the police refused to release others. Four
police buses took the protesters away, they are being questioned.
Activists of Karazhanbasmunay are calling for an end to the strike.
A strike activist, Natalya Azhigaliyeva, said that 30 people are still
protesting. They are keeping open fuel cans by them.
Vasily Chepurny, husband of Natalya Sokolova, said that the
authorities are trying to provoke them. Singer Sting wants to support
the workers. The European Parliament plans to send a delegation to the
Mangistau Region, headed by Paul Murphy, a member of the Irish
Socialist Party.
