Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry Issues Reminder of Consequences for Participating in Foreign Conflicts

The department emphasized that illegal participation in armed conflicts is punishable under two articles of the Criminal Code, Orda.kz reports.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs made this statement amid advertisements surfacing and offering Kazakhstanis the opportunity to sign contracts with the armed forces of other countries. 

The department reminded that citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan who take part in military conflicts for financial gain may be held accountable under two articles of the Criminal Code:

• From five to nine years of imprisonment under Article 172 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan – “Intentional unlawful participation of a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan in an armed conflict or military actions on the territory of a foreign state in the absence of signs of mercenarism”
• From seven years to life imprisonment, with possible confiscation of property and deprivation of citizenship of the Republic of Kazakhstan, under Article 170 – “Mercenarism”

The Ministry’s statement begins with the following:

Recently, advertising materials and videos have been spread on social networks offering citizens the opportunity to sign contracts with the armed forces of other countries for monetary rewards.

The department did not specify the social networks.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin