Kazakhstan: one corrupt official was imprisoned, the other was released

The two officials, accused of similar corruption crimes, were sentenced in completely different ways by the court.

In Kostanay region, the trial of the deputy mayor of Kostanay district, Rustam Sadykov, has ended. He was accused of abuse of office.

In May last year, Rashid Sarsekenov (the head of the company “Remdortechnik”) asked to lease him the sand deposit “Safronovskoye” for a period of 48 years. The head of the land commission, Rustam Sadykov, refused this request, because, firstly, Remdortechnik had the license for a three-year period, and secondly, part of the deposit “Safronovskoye”, which the businessman claimed, is located in the protective zone of the anthrax burial place.

As a result, a lawsuit was filed against the deputy mayor for hindering entrepreneurial activity. Allegedly, by his actions, he caused damage to the businessman almost $ 30,000.

However, in the course of the court proceedings, the Prosecutor’s Office changed the charge for abuse of office and demanded a punishment for the official in the form of five years of imprisonment in a colony-settlement. Nevertheless, the court sentenced Sadykov to 5.5 years of imprisonment in a medium security institution (general regime colony).

Meanwhile, in Atyrau region, Serik Kamidolla, the head of the Regional Department for the coordination of employment and social programs, who appeared before the court on charges of abuse of office, turned out to be more successful than his Kostanay colleague.

Kamidolla was detained at the end of March this year on suspicion of accepting bribes from employers who brought foreign workers to the region, for issuing permits and fraud.

Subsequently, as in the case of Sadykov, Serik Kamidolla was charged with abuse of office. The essence of the accusation was that Kamidolla, using his official position, appealed to the entrepreneurs of the region with a request to provide assistance to families in need. At the trial, the official fully admitted his guilt and repented. And so far as he had attenuating circumstances (three children, the first offense, the absence of material claims on the part of the victims), the court released the official from criminal punishment, imposing a fine on him in the amount of $ 7,000, and also banning him from holding positions in the civil service. The official was released right in the courtroom.