A resident of Aktobe reported that her son was sentenced to 125 years in prison in Greece. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan commented on the situation, reports infohub.kz.
According to the publication Aktobe times, a local resident Nurkhan Kadyrova contacted the editorial office. She said that her 24-year-old son Rashid Kadirov responded to a job advertisement in Turkey, but instead ended up in prison for a long term.
“Rashid is my middle son. He packed his things and didn't tell anyone. Then I was told he flew to Turkey for work. It was a shock for me. Later he called me from an unknown number and said: 'Mom, I'm in prison, I'm in Greece.' He said he saw a job ad on Instagram. They paid for his flight and promised him a job involving boat rides for tourists. Then it turned out it was about transporting illegal migrants. He didn't realize what he was getting into,” the woman shared.
According to Nurkhan Kadyrova, her son does not know a foreign language and had no interpreter. “He says they just told him to sign documents, otherwise his sentence would be even longer. Now he got 125 years in prison and a huge fine, which amounts to 1 billion tenge. He is very young, wanted to earn money, and ended up in such trouble,” the woman added.
A NUR.KZ correspondent sent a request to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan is aware of a citizen of Kazakhstan serving a sentence in Greece. This citizen was convicted by a Greek court on charges of illegal transportation of migrants. Under local law, this act is classified as a serious crime. Our diplomats in Greece, within their competence, are providing the citizen with the necessary consular and legal assistance. The matter is under control,” the response to the request said.