The police of the Almaty region have opened a criminal case following the discovery of state symbols at a dump in the village of Yerkin, Talgar District.
According to Zakon.kz, a video circulated online, filmed at a rubbish tip, shows three state coats of arms and blue material resembling the country's flag. In the comments underneath, people demanded that those responsible be found and punished.
For its part, the regional police department stated that it had opened a criminal case regarding the desecration of state symbols.
"Officers of the Talgar District Police have initiated the necessary operational measures to establish all the circumstances of the incident. Appropriate measures will be taken against the guilty parties in accordance with current legislation," reported the press service of the Almaty Region Police Department.
The district akimat also commented on the video, stating that documents from a certain college were found near the discarded state symbols.
"This dump is located on private land in the village of Yerkin, Kainar Rural District, Talgar Region. Currently, local executive body employees have inspected the dump site. During a visual inspection, it was discovered that next to the said state symbols there are documents from an educational institution – a college. The circumstances are being clarified. The state symbols have now been removed from the dump site," the statement reads.
The department promised that the state symbols would be destroyed in accordance with the rules for replacing and destroying the state flag and state coat of arms of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
"We officially declare that these state symbols do not belong to state institutions of the Talgar District, and therefore this matter is currently being reviewed by officers of the Talgar District Police Department," reported the Talgar District Akimat.
Recall that in August last year, an activist from Taldykorgan filmed a video of the coat of arms of Kazakhstan lying on the ground near the regional court building. Later, the region's police reported that officers had reviewed the footage and punished those responsible.
In October of the same year, several flags of Kazakhstan were spotted among household and construction waste in a workers' camp in the Atyrau region. At that time, the region's police department promised to conduct a pre-trial investigation, but the outcome was not reported.
In December 2023, a resident of Kokshetau drew attention to the fact that the state flag on the building of the Akmola Department of Statistics was in extremely poor condition. The state symbol made a pitiful impression, and a video of the tattered flag appeared on social media.
The press service of the Akmola Region Police Department did not respond to journalists' inquiries about whether officials of the state institution would be held accountable for disrespect towards state symbols, and instead redirected questions to the Department of Internal Policy. The statistics department later replaced the flag with a new one.