Most of all, bribery cases in Kazakhstan occur in three regions – in Almaty, in the West Kazakhstan and East Kazakhstan regions.
According to the results of seven months of this year, 100, 75, and 75 cases of bribery were registered in these regions, respectively.
Meanwhile, according to the ranking.kz project for monitoring the economy of Kazakhstan, 877 cases of bribery were registered in January-July of the current year. Moreover, in July, there were 56 such offenses, which is 69.7% more than a year ago.
Nonetheless, over the same 7 months, 27 corrupt officials were released on parole from Kazakhstani prisons. Among them is the former head of the sports department of the West Kazakhstan region, Muslim Undaganov. He was sentenced in April 2013 to 12 years in prison on charges of creating an organized criminal group that stole nearly a million dollars.
As the Uralsk Criminal Court reported at the time, Undaganov, using his official position, signed fictitious orders, travel certificates, and an advance report that 27 hockey players of the Akzhaiyk local hockey team allegedly went to a training camp in Russia in Zhigulevsk. And he pocketed the money allocated for the business trip of hockey players. However, the deception surfaced thanks to the border service of the National Security Committee, which established that the Akzhaiyk hockey players did not travel to Russia.
After a few years of imprisonment, Undaganov was able to achieve a review of the case and a reduction in the sentence to 9 years and 9 months in prison.
On July 8, 2020, the judge of the court №2 of Kostanay, Merey Amanzhulov, ruled to release Undaganov on parole. Thus, the former head of the sports department of the West Kazakhstan region spent only 7 years behind bars. As it turned out, the basis for Undaganov’s parole was a statement by the bailiff Gulmira Papasheva that he had allegedly paid off his share of the debt to the state of $ 345,000.
According to the current legislation of Kazakhstan, a corrupt official can be released on parole only in case of full compensation for damage, the absence of strict remarks while serving a sentence, and serving part of the sentence.
Meanwhile, the damage to the state was paid by Undaganov and his associates in solidarity. And this wording means that all members of the Undaganov organized criminal group will be considered debtors until the entire amount of the debt, that is, the same million dollars, is fully paid off.
Besides, by the time of Undaganov’s release on parole, he had three penalties from the administration of the colony in which he was serving his sentence. He was released, but not for long. After the uproar arose around this release, on August 19, the parole decision was canceled. Special forces rushed to Undaganov’s home, twisted his arms, and returned him to the colony to serve the rest of his sentence.
The chairman of the Kostanay regional court, Aslambek Mergaliyev, told reporters that the bailiff Papasheva was solely to blame for the incident, who misled the judiciary regarding the actual compensation for damage, which was not known to the judicial authorities. He also noted that a pre-trial investigation was initiated against the bailiff.
Meanwhile, according to the lawyer of the bailiff, Mereke Gabdualiyev, his client is now being held in the case of Undaganov’s parole not as an accused, but as a witness with the right for defense.
Nevertheless, the Criminal Procedure Code of Kazakhstan states that the status of a witness entitled to defense is assigned in cases where this person is indicated in the report on a criminal offense as the person who committed it, but procedural detention has not been applied to this person, or no ruling was issued recognizing individual as a suspect. This means that a witness with the right for defense can become a defendant at any time.
Leave feedback about this