All Decisions Made in Astana: High-ranking Officer Testified in Koshmambet Torture Trial

High-ranking police officer Bolat Totybayev had been expected in court for quite some time.

Rumors circulated that Totybayev had fled the country during the investigation into the former Minister Turgumbayev. But the Karasay district police department's former head came to court as a defense witness. He claimed to work as the deputy head of the Almaty region Yenbekshikazakh district police department. 

During the January Events, Bolat Totybayev headed the police of the Karasay district.

On its territory in Koshmambet, there is a specialized detention center for administrative offenders. Although it was not officially commissioned, about a hundred detainees were brought there during the January Events. 

They say military and law enforcement officers forcibly beat confessions out of them about participating in mass riots in Almaty. Among those detained was the famous Kyrgyz jazz musician Vikram Ruzahunov. Ruzahunov was among the first to speak out about being tortured in Koshmambet. 

There are 44 victims in the mass torture case. Six people are in the dock. Five of them are former subordinates of Totybayev - former deputy for investigation Serik Turpanbaev, Nursultan Khamitov, Bauyrzhan Sopakov, Arlan Shoibekov, Olzhas Aidarkhanov.

They are accused under two articles of the criminal code - 146 ("Cruel, Inhuman, Degrading Treatment") and 362 ("Abuse of Power and Afficial Authority").

Berik Abilbekov, the former Almaty Police Department deputy head, is also among the accused. He faces charges under Article 146, paragraph 1. 

Not one victim has said he took part in the beatings.

All Decisions Were Made in Astana

Bolat Totybayev claimed that members of the Republican Operational Headquarters (ROH) in Astana decided that those detained at the checkpoint in Targap would be brought to Koshmambet. He allegedly explained that the building had not been put into operation due to "deficiencies."

But since all the temporary detention facilities in the city were overcrowded, he was told that the "terrorists" would be brought to Koshmambet.

A member of the republican operational headquarters called from Astana and asked about a special detention center for administrative offenders. I told him that such a special detention center exists, but it is not operational. We had not yet put it on our books, as there were many shortcomings there. And I will not accept orders from someone I do not know because this is not within my authority. He said: 'your head will contact you now. And five minutes later, the regional department head, Serik Kudebayev, called. He confirmed, said that he had been instructed by the Minister of Internal Affairs, that this was the decision of the republican headquarters, Totybayev said.

During his testimony, Totybayev repeatedly emphasized that he received orders personally from Serik Kudebayev, the former head of the Almaty Region Police Department. 

Kudebayev, in turn, referred to the instructions of the Minister of Internal Affairs.

Kudebayev was a significant figure in the January Events investigation. He also attempted to make a break for it. He fled through Kyrgyzstan to Türkiye, where he would be detained and extradited. He was eventually sentenced to ten years for exceeding authority and torture.

A photo of him in prison enjoying a lavish feast went viral last fall. 

Kudebayev told me 'they will bring people. Our main task is security and assistance with documentation. That's all. Then a special group will work there - the National Security Committee. The entire operation was carried out under the auspices and under the leadership of the committee, you do not interfere. Your task is to protect the building, protect people and help with documentation.' He told me that this was the decision of the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Republican headquarters. He said that under the emergency regime and the anti-terrorist operation, we are obliged to obey and follow the instructions, noted Totybayev.

Totybayev claims the detention center building was not ready to hold people.

Communications were installed but worked intermittently. There were no mattresses in the cells. But since the state of emergency was declared and an anti-terrorist operation was underway, he had to follow all verbal orders and instructions. 

I raised the investigation and interrogatory personnel, and sent them, headed by the deputy for investigation Serik Turpanbayev, to the reception center so that they could process the data there. I also sent people for security with them, he said.

"No Rights"

He emphasized that his employees "had no rights" and were operating under the auspices of the National Security Committee, a specialized group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (from Astana), and the Prosecutor General's Office.

The witness repeated, "All work was carried out under the authority of the KNB," in almost every sentence.

All the work was carried out under the auhtority of the KNB, the specialized group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Prosecutor General's Office. My employees had no rights regarding the detainees, they were like soldiers, simply following orders. And to put it simply, we didn't need them (the detainees). They were not detained in our district. They did not cause any disturbances in our district, they did not commit any crimes. That is, we were not interested in these people. Our only problem is that this special detention center was located in the Karasay district. That's all. If the special detention center had been in another district, I think this trial would have been there,Totybayev concluded. 

He said that his subordinates questioned and checked the involvement of those detained in the riots in Almaty, checked their phones, and reported everything to the “special group.” 

There was an order not to interfere in the interrogation process if the employees of the same committee identified those they needed. My employees did not interfere in this. They took explanations from those they were pointed out. 

The Karasay UP employees allegedly could not release the detainees independently, as it was not within their authority.

Totybayev said about 200 people worked in the detention center at that time. 

There were about 100 detainees there. There were about 50 of my employees. There were also employees of Sunkar, the Jambyl District Department of Internal Affairs, the regional national security committee, the Jambyl district, and the Karasay district. In total, there were probably about 200 people there.

When asked by a lawyer whether his employees could choose not to follow criminal orders, he said the state of emergency prevented this.

At the same time, he clarified that not only his employees but all law enforcement officials had encountered such a situation for the first time, and few knew what to do.

You just understand, it was the first time the republic had a state of emergency. Then, no one really knew what to do and how to do it. That's why we followed all these instructions. In an emergency, I think we must follow all orders from the leadership. Because obeying an unlawful order is a purely military crime. We are not their subjects. During an emergency, we must follow all orders from leadership, said Totybayev. 

"Already Beaten"

The victims said they were beaten the most on the night of January 7-8, 2022. Bolat Totybayev was in the detention center then; he was present when the detainees were received. And he claimed that the people had already been brought to Koshmambet with their injuries. 

Another significant difference with the victims' testimonies is that, according to Totybayev, that same night, on his initiative, they were all examined by doctors.

However, he could not clarify as to when the medical workers were called in. 

I arrived there at one o'clock, when they brought the people. We met the people. By that time it was obvious that they were beaten up. I don't remember whether I called an ambulance or medics before that, or whether I brought them with me right away. We brought the medics. The medics examined them. We also screened them completely, so that they didn't have any piercing or cutting objects (as per the usual procedure), and they were scattered among the cells. Closer to four o'clock, when everything was over, I left.

But in response to another question, he said he decided to call in medical personnel after he saw severe bodily injuries on the detainees. He allegedly was not present when they were assaulted.

I didn't see the detainees being beaten. I saw hematomas. Many of them, all of them... That's why I decided to call the medics. I saw that they were beaten. They were already sitting in the bus, probably beaten. They were badly beaten. The medics arrived and immediately began examining them. 

Totybayev said the detainees were treated like terrorists in the detention center.

We needed to check them as thorougly as possible. Because if we had released a real terrorist at that moment, the question would have been posed differently. We were told that they were transporting terrorists. That's why they gave us two Sunkar armored personnel carriers for protection. This order came from ROH. 

He confirmed that he was in charge of receiving detainees. 

I was directly in charge of the reception. I was there until about four o'clock. The instructions were given by the KNB officers. All this work was carried out under the KNB officers' guidence. They brought the people. And they were interested in them.

Totybayev reported that all the Karasay police department officers who worked in Koshmambet were dressed in civilian clothes and bulletproof vests on his orders. He also said they did not wear masks and only had Makarov pistols. 

No Food?

All the victims questioned in court said they did not receive water and food for several days. 

Bolat Totybayev confirmed that the detainees were not fed from January 7 to 9 because the detention center was not officially operating, so there was no food supply. 

When the Akimat started functioning, I think, on the ninth, after that they started to deal with food. When I asked the Akim: we have been getting by on our own for several days now, they started to provide food. We delivered this food to our employees and detainees in the special detention center,
Totybayev said.

When asked by the defense attorney what the water supply situation was, he replied:

There were no malfunctions. There was water there. I told you in general that they didn't put it on the books. I was the head there for two years, the question was raised. And it still hasn't been put on the books, 2024 is ending. It (the detention center) hasn't been put on the books, I think.

Berik Abilbekov’s lawyer, Farida Ilyasova, asked why the National Security Committee and the Republican Operational Headquarters decided to place the detainees there, called them terrorists, guarded them with an armored personnel carrier, but did not bother to provide them with decencies:

Original Author: Aliya Askarova

The original article was posted on 22/11/24. Please refer to it for accuracy.