Almaty, 1 November. A court in Almaty sentenced a 41-year-old resident to 15 days of administrative arrest for a video appeal in which he called on heavy-truck drivers to stop freight transport in an organised way on 1 November in protest against axle-load restrictions, the city police department said.
Police identified the author of the video, designated by the initials A.B., and on 31 October took him to the Turksib district police department; he was found guilty of calling for an unauthorised mass event, and the case was heard by the specialised inter-district court for administrative offences of Almaty, Liter.kz specified. In the video he called the limit on axle load of trucks to eight tonnes unacceptable: in his words, Almaty is growing, construction is under way, and heavy vehicles are needed to carry building materials, Ulysmedia writes.
The restriction has applied in Almaty since 25 July: every day from 07:00 to 22:00 trucks with an axle load of more than 8 tonnes may not drive within the square bounded by Saina Street, Al-Farabi Avenue, the Eastern Bypass Road and Ryskulov Avenue, the traffic management and passenger transport department said. Two months after its introduction police reported thousands of fined drivers and clarified that the ban covers dump trucks such as KrAZ, MAZ, KAMAZ, Howo and Shacman, but not Gazelles and light trucks, Kazinform reported.
What it means: The occasion for the appeal is a single rule for heavy dump trucks in central Almaty. The court considered the appeal itself, a call for an unsanctioned action, not the question of whether the eight-tonne axle limit is justified.
What we know now: Police and the court identified the author of the video and gave him 15 days in jail. Whether any truck stoppage took place on 1 November is not stated in the reports found. Nor is it reported whether A.B. will appeal the court’s decision, or whether the city authorities responded to the arguments in the video. Some outlets give the author’s full name, while the police post on Instagram, according to NUR.KZ, gives only initials; we limit ourselves to initials.
Background: The authorities explained the restriction by saying it would raise the capacity of the streets, ease the load on the busiest thoroughfares, improve road safety and the environment, the akimat said.
