In July, hundreds of people were evicted from their shacks in Bakay and a week later the police came to Shanyrak. Knowing that the threat of eviction was imminent, 1,500 residents decided to resist and in the ensuing conflict, four policemen were taken hostage. Three were released and the other was covered in petrol and set alight, later dying of his injuries. Order was only restored when 600 more police arrived and the following year, 23 men were sentenced for their participation in the riot. The 23 included Aron Atabek, who was jailed for 18 years. Whilst in prison, he wrote a book criticising  Nursultan Nazarbayev and his administration called The Heart of Eurasia which was smuggled out and published in 2012. In consequence, Atabek was placed in solitary confinement, leading to protests from PEN International. President Nursultan Nazarbayev quickly ordered that the homes were legalized, but by 2010 this had  not happened. A new program was established in 2012, called Affordable Housing 2020, only to become embroiled in a  corruption scandal. Most of the Shanyrak squatters remained in place and in 2010, attempted to storm a council meeting in  protest at how long their claims for land tenure were taking.
In July, hundreds of people were evicted from their shacks in Bakay and a week later the police came to Shanyrak. Knowing that the threat of eviction was imminent, 1,500 residents decided to resist and in the ensuing conflict, four policemen were taken hostage. Three were released and the other was covered in petrol and set alight, later dying of his injuries. Order was only restored when 600 more police arrived and the following year, 23 men were sentenced for their participation in the riot. The 23 included Aron Atabek, who was jailed for 18 years. Whilst in prison, he wrote a book criticising President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his administration called The Heart of Eurasia which was smuggled out and published in 2012. In consequence, Atabek was placed in solitary confinement, leading to protests from PEN International. Nazarbayev ordered that the homes were legalized, but by 2010 this had still not happened. A new program was established in 2012, called Affordable Housing 2020, only to become embroiled in a fresh corruption scandal. Most of the Shanyrak squatters remained in place and attempted to storm a council meeting in 2010, to protest at how long their claims for land tenure were taking.
A
President
R
President Nursultan Nazarbayev quickly
Nazarbayev
A
still
A
fresh
D
in 2010,
A
2010, to