Aqtau Blogger Wins Cassation Appeal After 20-Day Jail Term for Criticizing Antikor

Aqtau blogger Azamat Sarsenbayev, who was sentenced to 20 days in jail earlier this year for criticizing the Anti-Corruption Agency (Antikor), has successfully overturned the verdict in cassation, Orda.kz reports.

The case stemmed from a social media post in which Sarsenbayev accused anti-corruption officials of providing patronage to a shopping center in Aqtau.

Why, you ask? Because it is impossible to simply increase the land plot from 60 square meters to 650 square meters at a public stop, to build a shopping center with conceivable and inconceivable violations,
 Sarsenbayev wrote at the time.

Antikor took issue with the post, and the case was brought to court. In May, Sarsenbayev was found guilty of defamation and sentenced to 20 days in administrative detention.

However, the Cassation Court of Kazakhstan has now ruled in his favor. The blogger shared the decision on social media:

The Cassation Court has finally put an end to this case and overturned the first-instance decision under Article 73-2, Part 2 of the Administrative Code. After five months, my lawyers and I achieved justice. I never doubted my innocence! I’m glad we stopped a dangerous precedent where people could be jailed for criticizing state agencies.

Just a year earlier, Sarsenbayev had also received an administrative penalty for using a drone to film the aftermath of the Aqtau air crash.

Original Author: Zarina Fayzulina