Official Kazakh report blames local police officers for shooting protesters A few weeks later the oil workers lost their job but they continued their protests. As the weather turned colder, frustration among the virtually ignored former oil workers grew and exploded on Dec 16, the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan independence from the Soviet Union. Almost at the same time that Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan's president, was opening a mock Arc de Triumph in the capital Astana to celebrate the anniversary, police were battling the former oil workers in Zhanaozen. Police have always maintained that they only fired their rifles when they feared for their lives although protesters have contested this. As well as blaming a handful of police chiefs for firing illegally on demonstrators, the prosecutor-generals" report blamed local officials for funnelling funds destined for job creation around Zhanaozen into their own pockets and opposition activists for stirring up violence. On Monday, Kazakh police raided the offices of opposition group Alga and detained several of its leaders and other activists. Before the prosecutor-general released its findings, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the Kazakh of authorities of using the riots as a cover to crack down on opposition. "The authorities pledged a thorough and transparent investigation into the Zhanaozen violence, but these targeted searches and arrests of opposition activists suggest that the government is simply trying to silence its critics," Hugh Williamson, HRW's Central Asia director said in a statement. Mr Nazarbayev has sought to distance himself from the rioting and deaths which damaged Kazakhstan's reputation as Central Asia's most stable country. About a week after the violence he flew to the region and portrayed himself as a man of the people. He sacked the head of the KazMunaiGas and his son-in-law from his post as head of Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund.