Interior Minister Comments on Airport Incident with Sanzhar Bokayev

Interior Minister Yerzhan Sadenov addressed the recent incident involving blogger Sanzhar Bokayev, who was briefly stopped by police at the Almaty airport, Orda.kz reports.

Bokayev had earlier stated that he was in a wanted persons database, where he was labeled as a “civil activist.” He claims it was later revealed that the Department for Combating Extremism had allegedly added him to the list.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Majilis, Sadenov denied that Bokayev was being surveilled by law enforcement.

Who says that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is monitoring Bokayev? We need to figure it out. First, we need to figure out who Sanzhar Bokayev is. We know him — he is a well-known person, he speaks, he is a public figure. Digitalization is in full swing in our country. That is, AI is used, the video analytics system works everywhere. But technology can also make mistakes,
 said Sadenov.

He suggested the confusion may have been caused by a mistaken identity.

Apparently, there was some accountable element that looked like him. They couldn't explain it on the spot, they brought him in, and then the employees apologized and let him go. He wasn't listed in any of our databases. It was just a physical resemblance to a person on the register. These are isolated cases of mistakes,
the Minister added. 

When asked directly whether the Ministry was monitoring Bokayev, Sadenov said no.

Original Author: Artyom Volkov