![Azamat Tenizbayev. Snapshot of KTK video](/userdata/news_en/2013/news_21489/thumb_b/photo_31083.jpg)
18-y.o. Azamat Tenizbayev -- member of Kazakhstan's national taekwondo team, medal-winner of many tournaments and triple champion of Kazakhstan -- was arrested in London on charges of sexual harassment, KTK reports. He was taken to a temporary detention facility and has stayed where for a week already. According to his family, there was a mistake. On his way back from the world championship in Mexico Azamat unintentionally with his hand touched a British citizen who was seating next to him in the plane. “There was an incident in the plane. My son was sleeping and accidentally touched a British woman. He was asleep. A flight attendant came up to him, explained the situation, my son apologized and everything seemed settled,” Azamat’s mother, Zhazira Tilesheva, said. However, the British woman considered the teenager’s action inappropriate and applied to the police. The sportsman was arrested during transit in London. The lawyer, provided by Kazakhstan embassy, allegedly convinced the teenager to confess promising that confession would enable him to board a flight to Kazakhstan. “The lawyer said that if he pleaded guilty, he would be deported. And my son pleaded guilty,” the sportsman’s mother said. Azamat’s father does not believe his son could be guilty of sexual harassment and accuses the team’s couches of negligence. “They say that my son harassed someone. This can’t be true! Especially on a airplane with lots of people around. This is completely impossible. For some reason none of the coaches stayed with him or even tried to help,” Talgat Tileshev said. Kazakhstan Taekwondo Federation explained that the coaches tried to stay, but were not permitted to as they were transit passengers. “We were informed that we were violating the visa regime and we could not stay there,” the Federation’s chairman Arman Chilmanov said. According to the TV channel's report, Azamat Tenizbayev will have to spend at least another month in jail as his trial is scheduled for August 23. The world championship that Azamat was returning from had been held in Puebla, Mexico from July 15 to July 21, 2013. Kazakhstan's Tenizbayev competed in the -80kg category. He lost 5:6 to Carlos Rivas from Columbia in the first round.
18-y.o. Azamat Tenizbayev -- member of Kazakhstan's national taekwondo team, medal-winner of many tournaments and triple champion of Kazakhstan -- was arrested in London on charges of sexual harassment, KTK reports. He was taken to a temporary detention facility and has stayed where for a week already.
According to his family, there was a mistake. On his way back from the world championship in Mexico Azamat unintentionally with his hand touched a British citizen who was seating next to him in the plane.
“There was an incident in the plane. My son was sleeping and accidentally touched a British woman. He was asleep. A flight attendant came up to him, explained the situation, my son apologized and everything seemed settled,” Azamat’s mother, Zhazira Tilesheva, said.
However, the British woman considered the teenager’s action inappropriate and applied to the police. The sportsman was arrested during transit in London. The lawyer, provided by Kazakhstan embassy, allegedly convinced the teenager to confess promising that confession would enable him to board a flight to Kazakhstan.
“The lawyer said that if he pleaded guilty, he would be deported. And my son pleaded guilty,” the sportsman’s mother said.
Azamat’s father does not believe his son could be guilty of sexual harassment and accuses the team’s couches of negligence. “They say that my son harassed someone. This can’t be true! Especially on a airplane with lots of people around. This is completely impossible. For some reason none of the coaches stayed with him or even tried to help,” Talgat Tileshev said.
Kazakhstan Taekwondo Federation explained that the coaches tried to stay, but were not permitted to as they were transit passengers. “We were informed that we were violating the visa regime and we could not stay there,” the Federation’s chairman Arman Chilmanov said.
According to the TV channel's report, Azamat Tenizbayev will have to spend at least another month in jail as his trial is scheduled for August 23.
The world championship that Azamat was returning from had been held in Puebla, Mexico from July 15 to July 21, 2013. Kazakhstan's Tenizbayev competed in the -80kg category. He lost 5:6 to Carlos Rivas from Columbia in the first round.