In Kyrgyzstan, a foreigner faces prison for comparing the national dish to a penis.
On December 30, McPhee published photos from one of the celebrations on social media and made a comment comparing chuchuk to a "special delicacy - horse penis," for which "Kyrgyz lined up." The photo and comment quickly became public knowledge and sparked a storm of outrage against the foreigner who allowed himself such an offensive comparison. Employees of "Kumtor" refused to go to work on January 2. About a thousand people demanded that the management of the production ensure that the person who insulted the national dignity and honor of the people be punished for his actions. After a conversation with union leaders, the workers returned to their duties, and letters were sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic and the State Committee for National Security demanding that the foreigner be held criminally liable for insulting national dignity. After the conflict began to escalate, McPhee attempted to flee the country. However, he was unable to do so: the man was detained and taken into custody.
- British citizen Michael McPhee, born in 1976 and an employee of "Kumtor," is currently in the city of Karakol in a private hotel belonging to the gold mining company, and he has been assigned security. Michael McPhee was detained by the Ministry of Internal Affairs at "Manas" airport in connection with an investigative request from the Internal Affairs Department of the Jeti-Oguz district and was brought to the city of Karakol. A number of complaints were received against him due to his publications on his social media page. It reached the point where employees of "Kumtor" organized a strike over this issue. On January 3, the Ministry of Internal Affairs transferred the materials to the regional prosecutor's office. On the same day, the prosecutor's office returned the materials to the Internal Affairs Department. According to the Investigative Department of the Internal Affairs of the Issyk-Kul region, on January 4, 2015, the collected materials on this fact were sent to the State Committee for National Security of the Issyk-Kul region, - reported the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic.
After his detention and placement in custody, McPhee deleted the scandalous post and wrote another one, where he apologized to the Kyrgyz people for the inappropriate comparison. However, a group of activists is already preparing to sue the Briton for insulting the honor and dignity of his compatriots. In addition, the foreigner faces trial under Article 299 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic "Incitement of national, racial, religious, or interregional hatred." The prison term, if McPhee is found guilty, will be from 3 to 5 years.
