Last summer, a group of women mobbed Kazakh journalists at a human rights conference in Almaty, hitting them and breaking their cameras. One of the women, Akzhol Akhmetova, was later spotted working at a municipal office and also appeared to assist local officials, prompting locals to label her a "titushka" -- a plainclothes provocateur. In an interview with RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, Akhmetova denied any government connections.
