Police in the North Kazakhstan region launched an investigation after a video was circulated online, where a group of people announced that they were uniting in the so-called People’s Council of the city of Petropavlovsk and the North Kazakhstan region. This was reported by the Kazakh service of Radio Liberty.
The speakers in the video introduce themselves as “working residents of the city of Petropavlovsk” and declare their distrust of “all the founders and employees of the management system of our property and resources.” The reason they indicate is the “fictitiousness” of the legal basis of the “corporation of the Republic of Kazakhstan” “due to the creation of unfavorable conditions for the life of the people.”
“We, the people, proclaim our independence, autonomy and sovereignty,” they said. In addition, they declared “the unshakable territorial integrity of the Sovereign Kazakh SSR.”
In my country blocked
present tense
On their Instagram page, the group posted announcements stating that on March 19, a meeting of 19 people was held in Petropavlovsk, dedicated to the “reconstruction of the city people’s council.” At the meeting, a “chairman” was elected, a “declaration”, a draft “charter”, “symbols and a seal” were approved, decisions were “documented by the protocol”.
The Kazakh service of Radio Liberty notes that the information about the “people’s council” spread against the backdrop of ongoing criticism of the results of the parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan by candidates. Posts about the “people’s council” sparked discussions on local Telegram channels, with some users calling the group’s actions calls for separatism. The speakers themselves denied claims of encroachment on the integrity of Kazakhstan and reports of ties with any banned communities “from neighboring and other countries.”
On the territory of neighboring Russia, there are also several groups that consider themselves supporters of the USSR and do not recognize the existence of modern Russia. Often they refuse to recognize Russian documents. In Russia, they are often persecuted for extremism.
The police department of the North Kazakhstan region told the KazTAG agency about the beginning of the check. “This information is registered with us in the police department of the North Kazakhstan region, investigative and operational measures are being carried out,” the report says. The National Security Committee and the Prosecutor General’s Office have not yet commented on the information.
In Kazakhstan, they were deprived of the mandate of a member of parliament. He supported Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine:
