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'''Oralgaisha Omarshanova''' ({{lang-kk|'''Оралғайша Омаршанова'''}}) (1968-went missing late March 2007) was a Kazakh journalist. She worked for the paper ''[[Zakon i Pravosudiye]]'' ("Law And Justice"), based in [[Astana]]. On March 30 she had secured a trip to [[Almaty Province]] to cover the clashes between Kazakhs and ethnic Chechens in the villages of [[Malovodnoye, Almaty|Malovodnoye]] and [[Kazatkom]], but never arrived.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,4565c2252c,4565c25f383,469f5c60c,0,RFERL,,KAZ.html|title=Kazakhstan: Authorities search for missing journalist|publisher=UNHCR|date=20 April 2007|accessdate=28 December 2012}}</ref> She had told a colleague previously that she had received threats by phone. She was last seen getting into a jeep in Almaty.<ref name="AmanpourJournalists2008">{{cite book|last1=Amanpour|first1=Christiane|last2=Simon|first2=Joel|title=Attacks on the Press in 2007: a worldwide survey by the committee to protect journalists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UAUNAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=28 December 2012|date=1 February 2008|publisher=The Committee to Protect Journalists|isbn=978-0-944823-27-9|page=170}}</ref>

On 28 February and 7 March 2007, Omarshanova wrote two articles outlining her theories on whether the murder of Sagit Shokputov, an influential [[Jezkazgan]]-based businessman and manager of [[Kazakhmys]], had any connection with his vilification by the [[Media of Kazakhstan|state-controlled media]] shortly before his death.<ref name='Radio Free Europe'> {{cite news | first = Merhat | last = Sharipzhan | title = Two Years Later, Kazakh Journalist's Disappearance Remains A Mystery | date = 30 March 2009 | url = http://www.rferl.org/content/Two_Years_Later_Kazakh_Journalists_Disappearance_Remains_A_Mystery/1564541.html | work = [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] | accessdate = 2012-12-28}}</ref>

According to the Kazakh government, on 17 March 2007, a mob of hundreds of [[Kazakhs]] in Malovodnoye and Kazatkom surrounded the [[Chechen people|Chechen]] Makmakhanov family at their home, demanding explanation for a quarrel the previous night in which one of the brothers shot a Kazakh in the leg. The brothers shot back from their windows, wounding nine Kazakhs and killing two. The mob then attacked and set fire to the structure, killing three members of the family. Most media coverage focused on the ethnic nature of the conflict.<ref name='Radio Free Europe'/>

As she had been covering the Shokputov story, Omarshanova was interested in the event as one of the Makmakhanov brothers—Vitta—had been charged for businessman's murder, and was officially being held in Jezkazgan. Instead he was at home at the time, and not a victim of the killings, unlike his three brothers. She was also interested in the lack of a police response, as the event took hours to transpire.<ref name='Radio Free Europe'/>

Omarshanova planned to investigate whether there was a connection. She claimed that Vitta was not the real murderer, and reported that another brother, Amir, had ties with Kazakhmys. The eldest brother, Khadzhimurat, was on the Kazakhstan Board of Judges, Shamil was in the oil business, and Nadhzmitdin worked for the [[Almaty]] Prosecutor's Office.<ref name='Radio Free Europe'/>

In April 2009 the [[Kazakhstan Interior Ministry]] detained Serik Zhamanaev, who they claimed to be a known criminal, for her murder.<ref name='Serik Zhamanaev'> {{cite news | title = Kazakh police detain suspect in journalist's disappearance | date = 8 April 2009 | url = http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/49e44338c.html | work = [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]] | accessdate = 2012-12-28}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omarshanova, Oralgaisha}}

[[Category:Kazakhstani journalists]]
[[Category:1968 births]]
[[Category:Missing people]]
[[Category:Forced disappearances]]
[[Category:2000s missing person cases]]

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