11 Found Slain, Including Ranger, at Park in Kazakhstan
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/world/asia/kazakhstan-park-ranger-found-slain-with-10-others.html
August 14, 2012
11 Found Slain, Including Ranger, at Park in Kazakhstan
By ANNA KORDUNSKY [Kazakhstan] [former USSR] [one of 4 former republics in which Soviets kept nukes] [democratization] [followup] [last time we checked in on the Kazakh situation, another election rigged and the status quo in central Asia] [since then, the Georgia-Russia fracas] [the new Silk Road between Asia and Europe?] [13 bodies found at border post with China?] [use psci 350, 463] [followup, see May 31 and earlier] [*]
MOSCOW — A forest ranger and 10 other people were found stabbed to death this week in a national park in Kazakhstan about 24 miles from the country’s largest city, Almaty, and not far from the border with Kyrgyzstan, Interior Ministry officials said on Tuesday.
The victims, including members of the ranger’s family and some of his co-workers, were found Monday night and Tuesday morning in two locations, and officials said some of the bodies had been burned.
Officials said they had identified six of the victims, including the ranger, Panayot Zaharopulo, 76, who worked in Ile-Alatau State National Park, and a woman who was
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/world/asia/kazakhstan-park-ranger-found-slain-with-10-others.html
August 14, 2012
11 Found Slain, Including Ranger, at Park in Kazakhstan
By ANNA KORDUNSKY [Kazakhstan] [former USSR] [one of 4 former republics in which Soviets kept nukes] [democratization] [followup] [last time we checked in on the Kazakh situation, another election rigged and the status quo in central Asia] [since then, the Georgia-Russia fracas] [the new Silk Road between Asia and Europe?] [13 bodies found at border post with China?] [use psci 350, 463] [followup, see May 31 and earlier] [*]
MOSCOW — A forest ranger and 10 other people were found stabbed to death this week in a national park in Kazakhstan about 24 miles from the country’s largest city, Almaty, and not far from the border with Kyrgyzstan, Interior Ministry officials said on Tuesday.
The victims, including members of the ranger’s family and some of his co-workers, were found Monday night and Tuesday morning in two locations, and officials said some of the bodies had been burned.
Officials said they had identified six of the victims, including the ranger, Panayot Zaharopulo, 76, who worked in Ile-Alatau State National Park, and a woman who was described as his common-law wife. All appeared to have died of multiple stab wounds.
Officials said a car at the scene, with bloodstains inside, belonged to a son of Mr. Zaharopulo. They said the son was missing.
Mr. Zaharopulo’s house showed no signs of forced entry, and no valuables were taken, officials said. No suspects were identified.
The 500,000-acre Ile-Alatau park was created in 1996 to preserve the ecosystem of the northern slope of the Tian Shan mountains, according to the Kazakh Ministry of Agriculture. Mr. Zaharopulo had previously drawn attention for his long-term fight against poaching and illegal logging in the area. [*]