20 Years of Slavery – Picture of the Day – Kommersant

by time news

Alexey Kotov, a native of the village of Gore-Gryaz, Yaroslavl Region, was in slavery in Kazakhstan for 20 years. This became known after he recorded a video message to his parents with a request to release him from captivity. The video was seen by the Karaganda police and opened a criminal case under the article on illegal imprisonment. Now Mr. Kotov has been released, Dmitry Sokolov, a deputy of the Yaroslavl City Duma, has arrived in Kazakhstan to help him. In cooperation with the Russian consulate, the issue of returning the Yaroslavl resident to his homeland is being resolved.

“Mom, dad, I have been in captivity for 20 years. Help, if you can, to get out of Kazakhstan, ”an extremely exhausted man, dressed in a work uniform, says on the video against the background of the Karaganda steppe. He introduces himself as a native of the Yaroslavl region, Alexei Kotov, and calls his native village – Gore-Gryaz Gavrilov-Yamskiy district.

The recording was published on social networks, where it was seen by employees of the criminal police department of the Karaganda region. They started pre-trial proceedings under Art. 126 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan (“illegal imprisonment”). The man was found in the Shet district.

This is a 44-year-old Russian citizen who was held in labor slavery by a local resident for 20 years. The latter was detained, investigative actions are being carried out with him.

The verification of the circumstances of the incident was started by the Russian Embassy in Kazakhstan. “In order to check all the circumstances related to the situation around the said citizen, employees of the specialized divisions of the Russian Embassy in Kazakhstan were sent to the Karaganda region,” the diplomatic mission said. Ombudsman for human rights in the Yaroslavl region Sergei Baburkin told Kommersant that the Russian MIA Administration for the region sent to the Russian consulate an official confirmation of the Russian citizenship of Alexei Kotov. On this basis, a certificate of return to his homeland will be issued, after which he will be able to return to Russia.

“They are already waiting for him here. Acting Governor Mikhail Evraev is in the know, he instructed the regional government to get involved and prepare everything necessary for the rehabilitation of Kotov, give him a place in a sanatorium, help with employment, and so on. Everyone is waiting for him. How it will be organized technically, I do not have such information, they are engaged there on the spot, ”the ombudsman explained. Mr. Evraev himself said on his Instagram that the authorities will help Kotov’s relatives in his return to his homeland and resolve issues with documents. He called the story itself monstrous.

“In 1997, he enlisted in the army under a contract. He served in Kazakhstan. In May 1998 he was supposed to return home, but did not come. In February 1999, a letter came in which he said that he had been beaten and that he was in the hospital. Letters arrived until July 1999, after which the connection was terminated. At home Alexei is waiting for his mother, father, three sisters and two brothers, ”wrote the Acting Governor of the Yaroslavl Region.

Sergei Baburkin told Kommersant that Alexei Kotov graduated from a vocational school, and after serving in the army left to serve in Kazakhstan under a contract.

When the Yaroslavets was waiting for the train to return to Russia, he was beaten at the station, seized and handed over to the owner of the farm, who kept him in labor slavery for 20 years.

Deputy of the municipality (city duma) of Yaroslavl Dmitry Sokolov flew to Kazakhstan to help his fellow countryman, whose dacha was next to the place of residence of Aleksey Kotov’s relatives, said Sergei Baburkin. Mr. Sokolov, together with the Russian consul, are resolving the issue of the return of Alexei Kotov to Yaroslavl.

Alexander Tikhonov, Yaroslavl

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