Kazakhstan: former head of the Committee for National Security was early released

The former head of the Committee for National Security of Kazakhstan, 64-year-old Nartai Dutbaev, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2018, was recently released on parole. The corresponding decision was made by the court on April 30 of the current year.

On December 26, 2016, Nartai Dutbaev, as well as officials Nurlan Khasen and Erlan Nurtayev were detained on suspicion of disclosing state secrets, abuse of power and official powers.

During the investigation concerning the “case of Dutbaev”, the former president of Kazatomprom Mukhtar Dzhakishev, who was serving a 14-year prison term in Almaty region, was also interrogated. Recall that in March 2020, Dzhakishev was released.

On August 24, 2017, Dutbaev was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison with life imprisonment of the right to hold positions in the public service. The notion of ​​depriving Dutbaev of the military rank “Lieutenant General” and the state award was introduced.

In September 2017, a second criminal case was opened against Dutbaev on charges of embezzlement and money laundering. Together with Dutbaev, charges were also brought against his younger brother Rustembek Dutbaev. Allegedly, they jointly organized the theft of property of the Closed Joint-Stock Company “Kazimpex Republican Center” under the Committee for National Security (the company with 100% of state participation in the authorized capital, responsible for the economic support of the CNS’s units).

On January 26, 2018, the court of the garrison of Akmola found Dutbaev guilty of this crime and by “partial addition of punishment with a previously imposed punishment” Dutbaev was sentenced to a 12-year prison term.

On January 22, 2019 at the meeting of the cassation instance of the Supreme Court, the sentence of Dutbaev was reduced to 11 years in prison.

And on June 18, 2020, the court ruling on the parole of Nartai Dutbaev entered into force.

As the judge of the East Kazakhstan Regional court Eldos Zhumaksanov told the media, on January 11, 2020, amendments to the Criminal Code came into force, aimed at humanizing the criminal law, according to which, one day spent in a pre-trial detention center counts as one and a half days spent in prison.

“Persons serving a sentence in a medium-security colony have the right to consider the time, that they were under arrest being under investigation, as if they had served it in prison. In consideration of that fact, Nartai filed the application to recalculate the sentence. The court recalculated it. Subsequently, taking into account this circumstance and the age of the convict, the court had no reason to refuse parole,” Zhumaksanov explained.

At one time, Nartai Dutbaev was one of the “heavyweights” (important figure) of the political elite of Kazakhstan.

After graduating from the higher courses of the Committee for National Security of the USSR in Minsk and the higher education institution of the CNS of the USSR in Moscow in 1982, Dutbaev began his career from the post of junior detective officer of the Office of the USSR State Security Committee for Stavropol territory.

After the breakup of the Soviet Union, at the dawn of independence of Kazakhstan (from 1993 to 1997), Dutbaev worked as deputy head, head of department, and then head of the Main Department of the Committee for State Security of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In December 2001, he was appointed chairman of the Committee for National Security. On February 22, 2006, he resigned due to the involvement of special forces of the CNS “Arystan” in the murder of opposition politician Altynbek Sarsenbayev. From April 2006 to February 2008, Dutbaev headed the Academy of the Committee for National Security. Then, until September 2008, he was an adviser to the President of Kazakhstan. After that, he worked as vice president of the National Atomic Company “Kazatomprom” (JSC) and a member of the Board of Directors of Kazakhstan Engineering (JSC).