Four adult Kazakhstan tourists detained in Uzbekistan for half a month are back home

The four adult Kazakhstan’s tourists detained by the Uzbekistan’s authorities for over half a month are back home, Kazakhstan’s consul in Uzbekistan Babur Daurenbek told a Tengrinews.kz journalist. Gaukhar Sarsembayeva, spouse of the detained Erbol Orazalin, told that she along with the other relatives of the detained tourists had waited for the detainees’ release at the Kazakh-Uzbek border for 5 hours. According to her, all the four men are all right and are being questioned by the law enforcement bodies of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan had sent a note to the Foreign Ministry of neighboring Uzbekistan requesting to explain why a group of Kazakhstan’s tourists deemed missing had been detained for a few days by the Uzbek authorities. July 14 at 14:30 a group of Kazakhstan’s tourists comprising 9 teens and 3 adults were taken under custody by the Uzbek border control officers nearby Ugam mountain range in Uzbekistan. The tourists might have wandered off the trail and stepped on the Uzbek soil. The group failed to get back home by July 20 as was originally planned. July 25 the Uzbek officials denied detaining any Kazakh tourists. However, later the Kazakh side learnt that the group had been taken into custody July 14. The teens were placed in a detention facility for minors. July 14 they were released. The Uzbek authorities charged the Kazakh tourists with illegally crossing the border and bringing in firearms. The Kazakh side reminded that in accordance with the Vienna convention in case of foreign citizens detained abroad, a respective notification should have been sent to the country of their origin.