Almaty's major crimes committed by non-residents: Yessimov

Major crimes and terrorist attacks in Almaty were performed by non-citizens, Tengrinews.kz reports citing Almaty Akim (Mayor) Akhmetzhan Yessimov as saying at the annual meeting with the citizens. According to him, both law-enforcement authorities and the citizens play an important role in the city's security. "We have to know who lives in our city, who comes here and for what purpose. These heavy crimes I was talking about were committed not by Almaty citizens," Yessimov said. According to Yessimov, half of the crimes in the city are committed by citizens of other cities and their number is growing every day. "This is our reality. Having no permanent residency or jobs, some of them commit crimes and get under influence of radical and religious organizations. We have to develop a mechanism to restrict the immigration. We hold nothings agaist against non-residents. Most of them are law abiding citizens who come here to make money," the Akim added. A check of the city's residential area discovered 13.9 thousand of apartments and houses rented out to people without registration with the tax authority, 12 illegal religious organizations and 47 persons with radical beliefs.