Kazakhstan: a judge, who bribed a judge of the Supreme Court, was detained
The scandal with the detention of the judge of the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan Meiram Zhanguttinov, suspected of bribery, has continued.
The details of this case were published on the website of the Supreme Court. As it turned out, Zhanguttinov received a bribe in the amount of $ 8,000 for assisting in the transfer of judge Turgunbaeva Liza Tazhimukhanovna.
“In this regard, the apparatus of the Supreme Judicial Council reports the following:
Zhanguttinov M.K. was appointed to the Supreme Judicial Council on February 26, 2019 and removed from the Council on December 30, 2020 (due to the expiration of his term of office). At the same time, Zhanguttinov was introduced to the Supreme Judicial Council at the suggestion of the Chairman of the Supreme Court and on the basis of the conclusion of the plenary session of the Supreme Court (that is, by decision of all judges of the Supreme Court). As for the transfer of Turgunbaeva L.T., we also explain the following on this issue. Previously (during 2018-2019), Turgunbaeva L.T. participated in competitions for judicial positions. She applied for a post in the district courts of the city of Nur-Sultan.
However, following the results of competitions, Turgunbaeva didn’t receive recommendations of the Supreme Judicial Council for transfer to the courts of Nur-Sultan due to the shortcomings in her work as a judge. At the same time, submissions of the Chief Justice concerning the transfer of Turgunbaeva to another court without competition were made on the basis of the decision of the Commission on the Quality of Justice under the Supreme Court. Based on the results of the professional assessment of L. Turgunbaeva, it was recommended to transfer her to a court with a lower workload. The first submission of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court about the out-of-competition transfer of Turgunbaeva from Al-Farabi District Court of Chimkent city to a specialized court of Turkestan region wasn’t supported by the Supreme Judicial Council due to the unreasonableness of such transfer, because the judge considered civil cases and had no experience of considering materials on authorizing investigative actions,” said in this message.
It also noted that the second idea of transferring Turgunbaeva to the specialized juvenile court of Turkestan region was supported, because the workload in the juvenile court is much less, and the cases are not so complicated.
However, these details didn’t last long on the website of the Supreme Court. Three hours later, this information was deleted, and a shorter message appeared instead. So, perceive a difference!
“The Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Internal Security Service of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan have held joint activities for a certain period of time. As a result, on February 11 this year, a judge of the Supreme Court was detained red-handed while receiving a large sum of money in the city of Nur-Sultan. The money was given to him (during his work in the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan) for the assistance of transfer of a judge of the District Court of Turkestan region from one court to another. At the same time, the judge of the District Court was detained in Turkestan for transferring funds. Other information is not subject to disclosure in the interests of the investigation.”
Meanwhile, the President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev called the detention of the judge of the Supreme Court an outrageous case:
“A judge of the Supreme Court with 30 years of experience, a former member of the Supreme Judicial Council, as well as a judge of a District Court were detained. This incident is known to all. It received a wide negative response. I think that the leadership of the Supreme Judicial Council and the Supreme Court should learn the necessary lessons and draw the necessary conclusions. Over the past five years, by the decision of the judicial jury, 29 judges have been dismissed from office for committing disciplinary offenses. In general, it’s clear that there is an active cleaning of the ranks of the judges. This process should never be stopped. We need to change the negative image of the judge that has developed in people’s mind. All servants of Themis must become the personification of legality, integrity and professionalism. This is the only way we can build a legal state and a fair society,” Tokayev said at the meeting concerning the modernization of the judicial system.
