Kazakh citizens will receive up to $28 000 for reporting a bribe

Kazakhstan will no longer make allowances to corrupt officials in the form of lighter conditions in penal colonies, parole, or the payment of a fine instead of imprisonment. According to Alik Shpekbaev, head of the Anti-Corruption Agency, from now on the bribe-takers will exclusively be sent to prisons, and in strict conditions of detention.

“Measures will be worked out to increase responsibility for corruption. We are talking about the abolition of the serving of imprisonment by corrupt officials in colony settlements, conditional early release and multiple fines for grave and especially grave corruption crimes, toughening the punishment for mediation in bribery and attempt,” Shpekbaev threatened at a meeting of the board of the Anti-Corruption Department.

In addition, in order to improve the quality of the fight against corruption and the role of society in it, it was decided to raise rates for reporting corruption. According to Shpekbaev, now the maximum amount of cash compensation will be $27.7 thousand.

“A person who reports a fact of corruption can receive 10% of the amount of the bribe after the conviction,” he explained. “Now the amount of remuneration will be differentiated, as in most OECD countries.”

Another way that anti-corruption officials practice as a vaccination against bribery, according to Shpekbaev, is excursions of officials to pre-trial detention centers.

“They make an indelible impression and nip any thoughts of corruption in the bud,” the head of the Agency summed up. “However, for some greedy officials such a measure does not apply. Unfortunately, they only understand the language of the Criminal Code.”