In Kazakhstan, judge was detained when receiving a bribe

The chairman of the court of Bostandyk district of Almaty, Altynbek Bayanov, was caught taking a bribe by employees of the Almaty branch of the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Internal Security and Corruption Prevention Department of the Supreme Court.

A video of the judge’s incrimination was published on the page of the Anti-Corruption Service on YouTube.

The bribe to the chairman of the District court was handed over by a citizen, who has arrears, so he is forbidden to travel outside the country. Bayanov, for a fee, had to authorize the debtor to leave.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that, according to the legislation of Kazakhstan, judges have privileges from criminal prosecution. According to article 550 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Kazakhstan, “a judge cannot be detained, subjected to custody, house arrest, prosecution, prosecuted without the consent of the President of the Republic, based on the conclusion of the Supreme Judicial Council of Kazakhstan”.

However, a pre-trial investigation against a judge, who committed a serious crime or was detained at the crime scene, may be carried out with the permission of the Prosecutor General’s office. As noted in the Anti-Corruption Department, the consent of the Prosecutor General to continue the pre-trial investigation was obtained on January 22. The final decision on the degree of guilt of the suspect will be made by the court.

Altynbek Bayanov was appointed chairman of the Bostandyk District court on December 18, 2015. Prior to that, he headed the Auezov District court of Almaty.

Over the past three months, this is the second fact of corruption revealed in the Bostandyk District court of Almaty. Recall, as ACCA already reported, in November 2019, the judge of Bostandyk district of Almaty was convicted of returning a bribe in the amount of $3000, which she had previously received for delaying the decision on a civil case, through a proxy.