Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the appeal of Russian diplomats to the authorities of Kazakhstan after the arrest of rapper Navai (Navai Bakirov) is a routine consular procedure. According to her, diplomats are obliged to protect the rights of their citizens abroad regardless of the circumstances of detention. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

The MFA representative noted that consular staff do not investigate criminal cases and do not determine the guilt of detainees. Their task is to help Russians who find themselves in difficult situations abroad.

"I will not discuss this specific case with a Russian citizen here. Our consular staff are not lawyers or investigators to qualify the actions of our compatriots abroad or to conduct investigations; they are — always and everywhere — obliged to protect Russian citizens in all, without exception, difficult situations abroad. Whoever is in trouble, our diplomats will always come to the rescue. Such is the law!" Zakharova said.

She called sending a note to the authorities of another country a standard way of official appeal in such cases.

"This is a very difficult area of work for our consular colleagues, both physically and morally and psychologically. Probably, it would be easier for them not to rush around police stations, prisons and colonies. Probably, they would like to 'unsee' much of what they saw not on TV but in real life, but this is their duty and the foundation of their Service, I would even say Ministry, no matter in what parts of the world, climatic zones and specific countries events and incidents occur," Zakharova wrote on social media.

Earlier, the Russian Consulate General in Almaty sent a note to the Kazakh Foreign Ministry, requesting clarification on the circumstances of Navai Bakirov's detention. The diplomats also announced their readiness to provide him with consular assistance.

As Kursiv previously reported, the musician was detained on October 13 at the "Kordai" checkpoint while entering from Kyrgyzstan. According to police, a narcotic substance was found during a search of the car. A concert in Astana scheduled for October 14 was canceled, citing technical reasons.

The artist's concert director, Rauf Gasanov, initially refused to comment on the detention. Later, according to Mash, he and another companion of the musician — Khalmurad Manapov, who had the car rental registered in his name — were released.

On October 15, it became known that the Kordai District Court arrested Navai for two months. Police reported an investigation under two articles related to smuggling and illegal storage of drugs. Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan began an internal review of the circumstances of the musician's passage through the "Ak-Zhol" checkpoint.

Rapper Guf and producer Elfar Suleimanov spoke out in support of the performer. The latter stated that the discovery of a prohibited substance in the car does not in itself prove that it belonged to the artist.

And the day before, the media named the estimated amount — about 2.1 million tenge — for which Navai might have been released on bail. The defense intends to appeal the arrest of the musician, who is in the pre-trial detention center in Taraz.