In the capital of Kazakhstan, a trial is underway in the case of the former vice-minister of Finance Ruslan Ensebaev, accused of accepting a large bribe.
Together with Ensebaev, three more people are in the dock – the former deputy chairman of the Information Committee of the Ministry of Information and Social Development Alibek Yeskendirov, Zhanbolat Baybosynov (also a former official – head of the print media department of the Communications, Informatization and Information Committee) and the head of the private company Al- Farabi Partners Dauren Bukharbai.
Ruslan Ensebaev began his career as a leading specialist at the Center for Informatization of Financial Systems. Over the years, he worked as the chairman of the board of the joint-stock company National Information Technologies (the main shareholder of which is the government of Kazakhstan), the chief director for transformation and personnel policy of the national atomic company Kazatomprom and as the chairman of the board of the national info-communication holding Zerde. In 2018, he was appointed to the post of Vice Minister of Finance. In November 2020, information appeared in some telegram channels about the detention of Ensebayev by employees of the Anti-Corruption Agency. The Agency itself refused to comment then, not confirming, but not refuting the fact of detention. The Finance Ministry said that Ensebayev was on sick leave. But, as it turned out now, he was indeed detained. However, subsequently, Ensebayev, Yeskendirov, and Bukharbay were subjected to a preventive measure in the form of house arrest on bail.
According to the investigation, the ex-vice minister was involved in embezzlement in the national social health insurance fund. However, the investigation isolated two facts of giving a bribe from this case. But then again combined all three cases into one proceeding.
The trial is being held behind closed doors, so it was not possible to find out the exact charges against the former officials. However, according to some information, Ensebayev is accused of receiving a bribe of $ 15.5 thousand from his friend, the head of Al-Farabi Partners, Dauren Bukharbai, for winning a public procurement tender for over $ 120 thousand.
What role the other two defendants played in all this is unknown, but most likely as mediators. However, the trial of the four corrupt officials disgraced itself in another legal plane.
“During the main trial, the defendants Ensebayev, Yeskendirov, Baybosynov, Bukharbai stated that they had given their confessions and testimonies under pressure from the Anti-Corruption Service, that is, they were tortured – they were held in the administrative building for a long time without being given rest at night. At the same time, psychological pressure was applied to the defendants under the pretext of imprisoning them for a long period of time to force them to give evidence knowingly imposed on them, which was beneficial for the body conducting the criminal prosecution. In relation to the accused Bukharbai, the operational officers of the Anti-Corruption Service used threats of physical violence during arrest, ”says one of the court protocols.
It is also worth noting that complaints of torture by employees of the Anti-Corruption Department at the trial were brought forward not only by the defendants but also by witnesses. Witness Diaz Kapsalanov, who is a member of the board of the Information and Registration Center, stated at the trial that he had given testimony under the mental pressure from the side of employees of the Anti-Corruption Service – he was held in an administrative building for a long time without being given rest at night time.
Judge Bakhytzhan Yessenov instructed the prosecutor of the city of Nur-Sultan to check the arguments of the defendants and the witness about the use of torture against them. However, during the check, the prosecutor’s office could not find evidence of the use of torture against the participants in the process and Kapsalanov.
The next court session, at which the verdict, in this case, will most likely already be pronounced, is scheduled for September 20.
It remains to be noted that, according to the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan, Ensebayev, and Yeskendirov, if proven guilty, face punishment in the form of a fine ranging from 50 to 60 times the amount of a bribe, or imprisonment for a term of three to seven years, with confiscation of property, with life deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities.
If the court finds Bukharbai and Baybosynov guilty, they face a fine ranging from 40 to 50 times the amount of a bribe, or imprisonment for a term of seven to twelve years, with confiscation of property, with life deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities.
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