Kazakh corrupt officials, sentenced to imprisonment, serve their term in comfortable conditions. According to official data, more than 65% of them atone for their guilt before society being in institutions of minimum security, that is, in colonies-settlements. It is noteworthy that this figure is increasing from year to year. For example, in 2016 only 16% of those convicted of corruption served their sentences in settlements, in 2017 there were 25%, in 2018 – 46%, during 9 months of 2019 there were already 65%.
According to the Anti-Corruption Agency, the ease of serving a sentence does not accord with the severity of the crime. The Agency provided its views on this matter in the concept of the draft law “On amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on strengthening anti-corruption”.
“Convicted persons, who have committed corruption and other criminal offenses against the interests of public service and public administration, regardless of the severity of the offense, may be immediately sent by the court to serve their sentence in a colony-settlement. The only condition is full compensation for damage. At the same time, in the case of the commission of intentional common crimes, the maximum term of imprisonment, when deciding to send a convicted person to a colony-settlement, is limited to two years. That is, persons, who have committed corruption offenses, are placed by the legislator in a “privileged” position in cases of considering the issue of the place of serving a deprivation of liberty. Thus, most of those sentenced to imprisonment are held in colonies-settlements and this significantly devalues the efforts of the state to fight corruption,” the anti-corruption fighters believe. The study of the experience of countries with a similar system of serving imprisonment (the presence of a colony-settlement) has shown that in no state, except Kazakhstan, there is a possibility of sending corrupt officials to serve their sentences immediately to a colony-settlement.”
In order to avoid this disbalance, the department proposes to abolish the possibility for corrupt officials to serve their sentences immediately in colony-settlement.
It is worth recalling that the President of Kazakhstan, Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, at a recent meeting on anti-corruption issues raised the issue of the need to establish a legislative ban on the use of parole for persons convicted of corruption offenses.
“This instruction is timely, relevant and in line with the mood of society and the anti-corruption policy of the state,” the Anti-Corruption Agency notes. “To implement the instructions of the head of state, it is proposed to fix that the early release on parole does not apply to persons convicted of an especially serious corruption crime, as well as to persons convicted of a corruption crime who at the time of the commission of this crime was a judge, except for cases of such crimes committed by pregnant women, women who have young children, men raising young children alone, women aged fifty-eight and over, men aged sixty-three and over, invalids of the first or second group. A person, serving a sentence of imprisonment for a crime of minor or medium gravity or a serious corruption offense, can be released on parole by the court only if he/she actively assisted in the prevention, disclosure or investigation of corruption crimes.”
The concept of the draft law on amendments and additions has been submitted for public discussion.
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