The Ministry of Internal Affairs has commented on a video from a wedding in the Turkistan region, in which an elderly man expressed the opinion that music should be abandoned and men and women should be seated separately. His words were seen as inciting religious and social discord, reports infohub.kz.
Police identified a video with public statements and opened a criminal case against a 66-year-old resident of the region. In the footage published by media, the man, discussing wedding arrangements, suggested that after giving up alcohol, other changes should be considered, including doing away with musical accompaniment and introducing separate seating for guests by gender.
The police emphasized that the Constitution of Kazakhstan guarantees everyone equality of rights and freedoms regardless of gender, origin, social status, attitude to religion, and other circumstances. Any public calls aimed at humiliating a person's dignity, discrimination on religious, social, or other grounds, as well as actions capable of disturbing public harmony and unity, are unacceptable.
"The Ministry of Internal Affairs stresses: freedom of speech does not absolve from responsibility. Any public statements containing signs of law violations will receive a principled legal assessment," police said.
Earlier, it was reported that in Atyrau, eight participants of a wedding motorcade were punished.