Kazakhstani fighters against corruption accused another judge of bribery, but could not prove that he was a bribe-taker. Despite this, the judge still faces dismissal.
The story that will be discussed began in March of this year with the post of Kazakhstani political scientist Erbol Edilov in Telegram. On March 18, he said, citing his sources, that Talgat Tagazhai, the chairman of the Specialized Interdistrict Economic Court of the Pavlodar region, was detained by employees of the Anti-Corruption Service on suspicion of taking a large bribe.
As it became known a few days later, the chief economic judge of the region was to receive a bribe of $ 20 thousand for making decisions in favor of two private companies – PV Atlant LLP and PV Tair LLP, which were sued by local government bodies.
PV Atlant LLP became famous for the fact that it was going to build a residential building on the site of a school stadium. However, residents of the city did not agree with the decision to demolish the stadium and stood up for its defense. As a result, the city prosecutor’s office intervened in the case, filing a lawsuit to declare the transaction between the company and the city hall invalid.
PV Tair LLP became a defendant in the claim of local authorities of Shcherbakty district of the Pavlodar region, which accused the company of untimely fulfillment of its obligations to build a water supply network. The project cost was more than $ 900 thousand. The company was supposed to deliver the project before November 1, but it did not meet the deadline, which was the reason for filing a lawsuit demanding to recognize PV Tair LLP as an unscrupulous participant in public procurement and collect a penalty from the company. By the decision of the court, the amount of the forfeit amounted to $ 540, but the court did not recognize the company as an unscrupulous.
According to the investigation, it was for these processes that the chairman of the court should have received material rewards. A pre-trial investigation against him was launched on March 13. He was suspected of preparing to commit a criminal offense – taking a bribe on a large scale by an official. During a search in his office, over $ 75,000 was found. However, it was not possible to prove the receipt of a bribe, since the chairman of the economic court was detained too early – immediately before the transfer of money.
In early August, the Anti-Corruption Service reported that it could not find corpus delicti in the actions of the judge, and therefore the pre-trial investigation against him was terminated. True, the anti-corruption fighters submitted to the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan the idea of bringing Tagazhai to disciplinary responsibility for discrediting the authority of the judiciary and damaging the reputation of a judge.
On August 20, the chairman of the judicial collegium for civil cases of the Pavlodar regional court, Bakhytbek Begaliev, said at a briefing that despite everything that happened, Talgat Tagazhai continues to remain the chairman of the regional economic court, but his powers are suspended until a decision on this situation is made by a judicial jury.
“The Anti-Corruption Service opened a criminal case on Tagazhai’s suspicion of accepting a bribe, which was then dropped. Georgy Shpeizer was involved in this case (Pavlodar businessman, general director of Hagi-Pavlodar LLP – ACCA). The size of the bribe was not indicated in the decision to initiate a criminal case. Tagazhai’s case was considered by the commission on judicial ethics. It saw a disciplinary offense in his actions. Even if there is no criminal offense in the case, there is a violation of the Code of Judicial Ethics. There was established non-procedural contact of Tagazhai in the courthouse, which is a violation of the code of judicial ethics, ”Begaliyev said.
On September 29, it became known that on August 21, the jury decided to dismiss Talgat Tagazhai from his post. However, it is not yet possible to speak about the actual dismissal for the reason that judges in Kazakhstan are appointed to office by the presidential decree and dismissed by his decree. However, to date, the head of the state has not yet signed it.
It remains to add that Tagazhai was appointed to the post of chairman of the regional economic court by presidential decree in May 2018. Prior to this appointment, he served as chairman of the Pavlodar city court.
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