Kazakh Prosecutor-General's Office said in a statement late on September 18 that the Central Asian nation's authorities had declassified documents for 2.4 million cases of individuals repressed by Soviet authorities between 1929-1956 on politically motivated charges. According to the statement, the declassified cases include documents related to 516,000 persons who were deported from other parts of the Soviet Union in the 1940s, of whom 311,000 have been already exonerated. The State Commission to Exonerate Victims of Political Repressions was established in 2020. Rights groups have warned about political repression in modern Kazakhstan, a charge officials reject. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.
Kazakhstan Declassifies Files Of 2.4 Million People Repressed By Soviets
Activists pay their respects to victims of political repression at a monument in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, in May 2020.