Kazakhstan: another judge is being sued for taking a bribe

There is another corruption scandal in the judicial system of Kazakhstan. In Shymkent, a trial has begun in the case of Tugel Bekimbetov, the former chairman of the judicial board for civil cases of the Turkestan region. The ex-judge is accused of accepting a bribe of $ 7,000.

Bekimbetov was detained red-handed by employees of the Anti-Corruption Agency on April 27, 2020. He received a bribe from the bankrupt and rehabilitation manager Keles Erezhepov. As it turned out during the investigation, the money was intended for the judge to uphold the decision of the first instance court on the bankruptcy of the legal entity.

At the same time, the bribe-giver Erezhepov immediately confessed to the fighters against corruption. And the bribe-taker Bekimbetov took a little more time to repent for what he did.

Anti-corruption officials posted the video of the judge’s arrest immediately on Youtube. It should be noted that Tugel Bekimbetov has worked as the chairman of the judicial board for civil cases since 2015. The former judge was awarded two orders.

The defendants are accused of giving and receiving a bribe in a significant amount, respectively. If Bekimbetov’s guilt is confirmed by the court, then he will face imprisonment for up to seven years with confiscation of property or a fine of sixty times (of the bribe amount). Besides, he will be deprived of the right to hold positions in the civil service for life.

It is also worth noting that just a month ago in Shymkent, the trial of another high-ranking official of Themis, ex-judge of the Judicial Panel of Appeals for Criminal Cases of the Turkestan Regional Court Ashirbek Rakhymbayev, was completed. He was sentenced to four years in prison for accepting a bribe of $ 70,000.

Recall also that, as ACCA reported, together with Bekimbetov, the anti-corruption fighters detained several judges of the Supreme Court, as well as judges from the North Kazakhstan region and the city of Shymkent. They were accused of the fact that “being on a business trip in the city of Turkestan with full state support, they received material benefits from their colleagues from the region.”