Minister Abdenov asks to set egg-thrower free

Kazakhstan Minister of Labor and Social Protection Serik Abdenov has submitted an application to Specialized interregional administrative court of Almaty stating that he had no claims against Andrey Tsukanov who threw eggs at him during the press-conference in Almaty. Abdenov told Tengrinews.kz that he asked to let Tsukanov free. Abdenov explained that he "did not take offense from Tsukanov's actions”. “One cannot be offended by these people, he is an unhappy person. That’s why I cannot say that I have forgiven him. I didn’t even get offended,” Abdenov said. “His deed shows his lack of culture. He had a chance to ask his question just like all the other journalists. I found out that he was sentenced to 7 days in jail and wrote a statement. The court has to consider it and let him go, as I don’t have any claims against him. I think it is unethical to arrest such people,” Abdenov said. The Minister hopes that Tsukanov will come to his senses. “If he comes to apologize, I will shake his hand,” Abdenov added. Meanwhile, he answered the question that was widely discussed on the Internet: after the incident Abdenov left the room and came back in a clean jacket several minutes later. “No, I didn’t have an extra jacket. I don’t carry several suits with me. I just went out of the room and asked my colleague for his jacket and tie. It was impossible to clean the eggs off the suit in just five minutes,” Abdenov said. The Minister said that there were no security guards with him and the next meetings would be held as usually. “I was talking to people and of course I did not expect any attack. I did not think that something like this could happen in our civilized society. As for the security guards, I have none! I believe it wrong to meet with the population being surrounded by bodyguards. This would have been inappropriate! This incident was an outstanding situation. It was an exception,” the Minister added. Abdenov also told about the reaction of his relatives to the planned retirement reform. According to him, there are plenty of women in his extended family and they were also concerned about the reform. “I would like to say that there are quite many women in my family. In the beginning they also did not understand the purpose of this reform. I talked to them the same way I talk to people, explained everything and they understood me, because they trust me,” the Minister said. The “eggs incident” happened during the press-conference in Almaty on April 26. The man who introduced himself as Andrey Tsukanov from the communist party threw three eggs at the Minister in front of dozens of journalists. The Minister remained calm: he stood up and started cleaning his suit. The briefing was suspended for several minutes and resumed after Abdenov came back. Tsukanov was later sentenced to 7 days in jail for disorderly behavior. By Roza Yessenkulova