After a video about the “establishment of the People’s Council” of the city of Petropavlovsk and the North Kazakhstan region circulated on the Internet, the police of the North Kazakhstan region announced that an investigation had begun.
In a video published online, the group, which introduced itself as “working residents of the city of Petropavlovsk”, “expresses distrust in the management system”. According to the representatives of the group, this was motivated by the “false legal basis” of the “Corporation of the Republic of Kazakhstan”. They also claimed that the conditions for the people were not created in the country.
“We, the people, declare our independence and sovereignty,” the representatives of the group said. Among other things, these people also talk about the “territorial integrity of the sovereign Kazakh SSR”.
The group posted a copy of the message attributed to “Inform West” on its Instagram page . It says that on March 19, a “meeting of workers” was held in Petropavlovsk, where “the city people’s council was re-established.” At the meeting, the “chairman” was elected, and the draft “declaration”, “charter”, “sign and seal” was approved. The decision is approved by the “protocol”. 19 people are said to have attended the meeting, but their names have not been released.
The information about the “People’s Council” was published at a time when the results of the parliamentary elections were being tested in the country. In several cities of the country, candidates and activists who failed to pass the mazhilis or maslikhat declared that they do not agree with the election results and said that they will dispute them. Posts about the “People’s Council” have been hotly discussed on local telegram channels. Some users assessed the group’s actions as “calling for separatism”.
On March 31, MP Abzal Kuspan said on his website that he is “preparing a letter to the chief prosecutor about the situation in Petropavlovsk”.
And the “people’s council” said that the information in local publications was “taken out of context” and distorted. The representatives of the group said that they did not violate the integrity of Kazakhstan and were not related to the banned communities in other countries.
In the evening of March 30, the North Kazakhstan regional police department informed the KazTAG agency that an investigation into this issue had begun.
“Information was registered in the police department of the North Kazakhstan region, urgent investigation measures are underway.” The NSC and the General Prosecutor’s Office did not comment on the information.
Source : Rferl
