Foreigner arrested in Petropavlovsk after taking selfie at monument

Tengrinews.kz - A visitor from Uzbekistan was arrested in Petropavlovsk for five days after taking a photograph with the Abai and Pushkin monument.
According to the press service of the North Kazakhstan regional Police Department, on January 1, pedestrians on the city’s main street alerted a foot patrol about the behavior of three young men. Witnesses claimed that the trio was being loud and disrespectful, and one of them even climbed the five-meter-high Abai and Pushkin monument to take a selfie.

Abai and Pushkin monument. Photo: Tengrinews.kz

"With the help of video surveillance inspectors from the Petropavlovsk operations center, the patrol detained the three individuals. Protocols were drawn up for appearing in a public place while intoxicated, and administrative materials were collected for minor hooliganism," the police explained.

All three detainees were visitors from Uzbekistan. One of them was subsequently brought before a court.
The case of the 26-year-old Uzbek citizen was reviewed by the Specialized Administrative Court of Petropavlovsk.
The court established that on the evening of January 1, the foreign national climbed the Abai and Pushkin monument on Kazakhstan Constitution Street, which is a notable city landmark. He later climbed an ice sculpture of the Year of the Snake symbol to take additional photographs.

"The violator admitted his guilt, explaining that he alone climbed the monument and the ice sculpture while his friends stayed aside, with one of them taking photos. His guilt is confirmed by evidence, including video footage from the operations center and photos from his phone," the court ruling stated.

The court classified the foreigner’s actions as minor hooliganism under Part 1 of Article 434 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. According to the article, this offense can be punished by a fine of 20 monthly calculation indices (MCI) (78,640 tenge) or administrative arrest for a period of five to fifteen days.

"Given the circumstances of the offense and the demonstrative disregard for societal norms of decency and morality, the court deems it necessary to impose a stricter penalty in the form of administrative arrest and sentences the violator to five days of administrative detention," Judge Gulzhan Taleeva declared in the ruling.

The police have already enforced the court’s decision regarding the administrative arrest.
Earlier, a man wanted by law enforcement in Uzbekistan was detained by police at Almaty International Airport.