FBRK.KZ

International observers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have presented preliminary assessments of the republican referendum on the new Constitution of Kazakhstan. According to them, the vote took place openly and in accordance with national legislation and international standards. No significant violations capable of affecting the legitimacy of the voting were identified.

In Astana, a court has sentenced the deputy head of the local police service of the "Yesil" district, Ali Abetayev, who was found guilty of intentionally causing minor harm to the health of his superior. The incident occurred during a night-time raid to inspect establishments. The court sentenced the defendant to 1 year of restricted freedom, 100 hours of community service, and stripped him of the rank of police captain.

The Central Referendum Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan has announced the preliminary results of the vote on the new version of the Constitution. 7,954,667 citizens, or 87.15% of referendum participants, voted in favour of the changes. Turnout was 73.12%, with 9,127,192 people taking part.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that 15 March will be celebrated annually as Constitution Day of Kazakhstan. The statement was made after the release of exit poll results from the nationwide referendum on the new version of the Fundamental Law. According to the polling station exit surveys, the majority of citizens supported the constitutional reform.

The Inter-district Civil Court of Astana has upheld the claim by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan to revoke the licence of lawyer Svetlana Nurlatova. The basis for this was documents submitted to the court regarding the payment of a fee of 37.52 million tenge, which, as the courts established, do not confirm the actual payment for services.

14 March in Almaty saw the festive concert "Kөktөbedegі Kөrіsu", dedicated to Kөrіsu Day, which marks the beginning of the Nauryz holiday. The central venue for the event was the Kok-Tobe area. A special feature of the programme was a drone light show and the involvement of robots that interacted with guests.

In the Abai region, administrative barriers have been removed for an investor implementing an agro-industrial cluster project worth approximately 50 billion tenge. An inspection revealed that the authorised bodies had previously unreasonably refused to arrange land plots. Following the intervention of the prosecutor's office, the investor continued with the project.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan has reported the results of its work on seizing illegal weapons. Since the beginning of 2026, 580 units of weapons and more than 2,000 rounds of ammunition have been removed from illegal circulation. As part of the operational and preventive measure "Law and Order", the police are also uncovering weapons caches and checking owners of civilian firearms.

Decree of the President of Kazakhstan No. 1188 of 2 March 2026 formalised personnel changes in the judicial system. The document concerns 183 judges: 135 have been appointed to new positions, and the powers of 48 individuals have been terminated on various grounds.

On the public procurement portal, full scans of suppliers' identity documents — including photos, IINs, and signatures — were publicly accessible. Among them is the ID document of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of BI Group, Aidyn Rakhimbayev.