KZBlog

Kazakhstani Shot By Police (6)

Posted by KZBlog on 29 April 11 • Categorized as News • Tagged as Kiril Denyakin, police, Portsmouth, Virginia

This is a terrible story and it’s doing bad things for the image of the US in Kazakhstan. A 26 year old man, Kiril Denyakin, who was working in Portsmouth, VA was shot by police on the 23rd of April. The local paper has the most complete account I’ve seen so far.

Apparently, Denyakin was drunk and banging on the door of an apartment complex where he had been staying with a friend. A neighbor living in the building called the 911 reporting a potential break-in. According to a statement by the police chief of Portsmouth:

The suspect disregards the verbal commands being issued by the officer. He immediately places his hands at the midsection of his body, in the waistband area, and then charges at the officer. The officer begins to retreat toward the sidewalk of Green Street while giving additional verbal commands. The suspect continues his advance on the officer, causing the officer to discharge his service weapon in an effort to stop the threat. This encounter lasted less than two minutes from the officer’s (10:12 p.m.) arrival to the discharge of the weapon.

It as of yet unclear what commands the police gave to Denyakin, who was unarmed. Some witnesses reported hearing 6 shots fired, although police have said they won’t comment on that until the investigation is complete. As per official policy, the officer, who is still unnamed, is on administrative leave while the incident is being investigated.

Denyakin apparently had been at the building an hour before the incident:

Earlier Saturday, Denyakin had a dispute with someone in the apartment building and was told to leave, [Chief of Police] Hargis said….
Friends and co-workers of Denyakin said they were shocked that he was involved in the shooting. They described him as a good friend and a hard worker who didn’t lose his temper. Some Olde Towne residents said he was well known in the area….
Maurice Wilson, the friend with whom Denyakin had been staying, said he saw Denyakin around 9 p.m. Saturday. Wilson briefly left work after his wife told him Denyakin was drunk. Wilson said he and another man had to help carry Denyakin down the sidewalk because he was so intoxicated.
“He couldn’t even walk… he’s not in a stage where he can attack somebody,” Wilson said Thursday. “I told him to go back in the house and go to sleep.”

Comments on zakon.kz indicate the kind of damage this does to the reputation of the US in Kazakhstan.

• It’s shocking that as many as six bullets were fired at an unarmed man. Americans really are maniac.
• The true face of democracy and their entire system. Dictatorship of the police- “made a SECRETIVE movement of hands” and all six bullets. A whole clip released into an unarmed man.
• …in America, don’t kid around with cops, there even when they stop you [in your car], you must put your hands on the steering wheel and wait for further instructions, and each time just to say “I’m taking my license out of pocket” before you get it right out of pocket. Fraternizing with the police is not allowed, you can be immediately shot. Hear them or not, it’s your problem. But the cops don’t usually stop people “just because”, for “document checks” on the streets. You can be there for a few years traveling and never be stopped by a cop. So it goes.
• If our police officers worked by [American] instructions, they would shoot allof Kaz akhstan. How could you not make a warning shot into the air. And then why 6 times to shoot a man, he was like a zombie? Moving and not falling?

I don’t get it either. It sounds like the guy was drunk and probably banging loudly, maybe shouting up and making a lot of noise. That’s annoying, maybe you need the police to come and escort him home or throw him in the drunk tank for the night to sober up and calm down a bit. Maybe.

If it really looked like he was lunging at the police with a weapon, couldn’t they have used a taser? Or aimed for the legs? And if the officer fired six times, that is excessive. I know police have to defend themselves, but it seems to me that you can fire once (aiming to wound, not kill) and then check if the guy is armed. If they’d done that, they’d have seen the guy was unarmed and he’d likely be alive.

You can say that Denyakin was drunk and didn’t understand how things work with the police in the US. Yes, he did a dumb thing. But that’s not a capital offense. If his back was turned, he wouldn’t have assumed they had weapons drawn and aimed at him. Or that the police would be so trigger-happy. I wouldn’t have in his situation at any rate.

I do hope that people in Kazakhstan don’t think this sort of thing happens all the time. It really doesn’t. I can tell you that I have never seen a police officer draw a weapon in my entire life. Not once.

I also hope no one thinks this had anything to do with him being a foreigner. It had to do with panicky cops. I hope this thing is fully investigated and the officer is punished sufficiently.

Kazakhstani Man Attempts to Hijack Plane (Comments Off on Kazakhstani Man Attempts to Hijack Plane)

Posted by KZBlog on 26 April 11 • Categorized as News • Tagged as airplane, hijacking, Libya, Valery Tolmachev

I was tempted to call this post, “What?” because the story is so odd. As you’ve probably seen by now since it’s made the news Valery Tolmachev from Kazakhstan attempted to hijack an Al-Italia flight from Paris to Rome. One hour into the flight, the 48-year old, got up, apologixed several times to the people sitting near him, and held a penknife to the flight attendant demanding to go to Tripoli. He was nervous and abashed, according to some accounts, and as he tried to move toward the cockpit, he tripped, giving passengers and flight attendants a chance to subdue him.

If it’s the same Mr. Tolmachev, he works as an advisor to the Kazakhstan delegation to UNESCO. Olzhas Suleimenov, the well-known poet and linguist, and head of the delegation said there was no reason to believe he would do this and that it must be some “mental illness”: “I never noticed him trying to go to Triploi or overall talking about Kaddafi or anyone there. He was never involved. This is mental illness.”

Police have found no sign of conspiracy or links to terrorism. Given that he tried to hijack a plane with a penknife, it doesn’t sound like either a professional job or a serious attempt. I have to agree with Mr. Suleimenov that something got to the man. I hope that he gets some rest, some therapy and that no one holds this too harshly against him.