Are State Secrets under Threat? Dismissed Colonel from State Communications Claims Sabotage and Discrimination

The former colonel of the state courier service, Vasily Mazurenko, reached out to the Orda editorial office. The ambitious situation supposedly concerns the national security of the country and the Bloody January Events. What does the former Prime Minister Askar Mamin, who resigned, have to do with it, and why does a long-term conflict with a lot of mutual complaints threaten to result in something more?

Vasily Mazurenko served in the Almaty department of the State Courier Service (SCS) for more than 30 years. This service carries out state courier services to ensure the protection of state secrets. 

The colonel was dismissed from the post of head of the department on March 3, 2022. The decision was made 12 days before his retirement. Other heads of branches across the country also lost their posts in the same year. The former employee tore the veil of secrecy over the events in the organization preceding such a turn of events.

The grounds for dismissal were the results of an internal investigation on an anonymous complaint. Vasily Mazurenko assures that the personal hostility of higher-level managers is behind everything. The reason on the surface, the pensioner believes, is his principled work. Almost everything that the colonel described further is supported by documents.

It is important to understand the work of this service is not common knowledge. Urgent decisions at the highest state level depend on their work. The service’s employees, military or government couriers, have ensured the delivery of mostly secret documents since Kazakhstan's independence. 

The authorized structure of the state courier communications is the Office of the Prime Minister. It was transformed in early January 2023 into the government apparatus. Its employees are considered personnel of the internal affairs bodies, carry weapons, have uniforms, and receive benefits and pensions. However, they do not perform tasks peculiar to other employees of the internal affairs bodies and are not accountable to the relevant Minister.

The Conflict's History

Lieutenant Colonel Arnur Ikranbekov is currently the head of the courier service of Kazakhstan. He is a former employee of the Prime Minister's Office, Deputy Head of the Control and Documentation Department. His father is Abay Ikranbekov, head of the Internal Audit Department of the Accounts Committee for control over the execution of the republican budget.

Another person involved in the conflict is the deputy head of the Prime Minister's Office, Askar Zhakenov. the official worked in the Ministry of Justice until 2019. The former Prime Minister, Askar Mamin, personally appointed him to his current position.

As soon as Zhakenov sat in the deputy chair, he immediately reinstated his former deputy Arnur Ikranbekov in the internal affairs bodies. He then sent him to lead the country's state couriers. The conflict of interest in the service’s ranks begins here.

"With the Ikranbekov’s reinstatement, work is underway in the SCS [Ed. State Courier Service] of the Republic of Kazakhstan aimed solely at destabilizing the service,"

Vasily Mazurenko said, and then gave examples.

It all started with a reduction in the transportation of official correspondence of government agencies. The head of the Almaty branch justified it this way: With the service’s refusal to transport the official correspondence of government agencies, it entails additional costs of budgetary funds. This caused discontent.

Vasily Mazurenko points out that he has repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that his employees are not paid travel expenses. Among other things, he sent recommendations regarding the need to upgrade the service’s fleet, and also complained about the lack of personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The President has imposed a moratorium on the purchase of cars for government agencies for three years since July 7, 2020. The moratorium, however, does not apply to the SCS of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Another incident became a stumbling block in the conflict between the two sides. Colonel Mazurenko took a principled position when budget funds for official business trips of the leadership of the SCS RK, in his opinion, were used incorrectly. For example, on a trip to Moscow for five days, only the top management was furnished with payment of travel expenses in the amount of 150 thousand KZT.

"And this is against the background of the fact that the senior inspector of personnel intelligence Karasartov, in violation of government Decree No. 256 of May 11, 2018, the UFOS of the SCS of the Republic of Kazakhstan, was very significantly underpaid for his official travel expenses,"

the colonel says.

Karasartov wrote to the then-head of the State Fiscal Service of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Colonel Timur Mambetkaziev. However, the complaint caused a backlash.

"In May 2019, Askar Zhakenov called from the Prime Minister's office, who asked why we write complaints to the SCS of the Republic of Kazakhstan? Without particularly delving into my explanations, he interrupted me and categorically said: "If you write complaints or try to take the trash out of the hut, [Ed. saying meaning to bring internal problems into the public] you will be fired." As a result, on April 22, 2019, the order of the head of the SСS of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 78 l/s "On the imposition of disciplinary punishment" is issued – a reprimand to D.T. Karasartov, a remark by V.E. Mazurenko in our opinion is a violation of the Labor Code and the procedure for applying disciplinary penalties,"

the colonel recalls

The conflict between employees continued to develop. Additional units of employees were introduced into the leadership of the SCS. This is contrary to the Department of Internal Affairs’ Road Map for development aimed at reducing staff.

"Recruitment and reinstatement of previously dismissed employees in the Department of Internal Affairs followed for various reasons. Appointments to the suddenly vacant positions of heads of regional divisions in Shymkent, Ust-Kamenogorsk, and in the SCS apparatus itself were made along the chain."

Uncut

After a number of complaints from the accountant and other employees of the department in Almaty, they received complaints about their work from the leadership of the SCS of the Republic of Kazakhstan. As Colonel Mazurenko recalls, the team deliberately created an unbearable moral and psychological climate.

"For various reasons, during 2022, the heads of the regional divisions of Taldykorgan, Shymkent, Turkestan, Kyzylorda, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Atyrau resigned. I saw the persecution, illegal punishments, unjustified deprivation of bonuses of employees of divisions and their managers who faced the conditions created by Ikranbekov throughout the service,"

says Vasily Mazurenko.

The response to the complaints was not long in coming. The management decided to organize additional certifications and examinations for the personnel of the Almaty branch. The number of inspections also increased. This is confirmed by the documents provided by the colonel.

"It was a blatant forgery – in the act of inspections they pointed to non-existent facts or distorted the actual ones. All these methods were used for corrupt purposes, as a lever to pressure and eliminate unwanted employees. The same fate befell the head of the USCS of Turkistan, Colonel Sabitov, bringing him to a stroke. It happened right after he told the management about corruption risks in the SCS of the Republic of Kazakhstan regarding Tatanov, who, by the way, was later put in my place,"

the former employee explained.

January Events

The cross-complaints did not stop after the onset of January 2022. The situation in the city then heated up to the limit, says Mazurenko. According to the instructions, he asked the management for an operational action plan. However, according to him, they were simply silent.

Ultimately, the Colonel took the initiative and took responsibility for the following actions: together with his colleagues, he took all the weapons and secret documentation from the department to his home. Six employees of the branch guarded the information until the end of the events.

After the situation normalized, Mazurenko offered the team to chip in 10 thousand KZT a person. The goal was to sacrifice a ram and recite a prayer in honour of fallen comrades in the service. And then give the remaining money to the police department to help the injured police officers and their families.  

He also prepared a complaint against the leadership of the SCS to President Qasym-Jomart Toqayev. But he did not get a chance to send it. The colonel received an "anonymous letter" allegedly from his employees. It contained information about extortion on his part, threats, and insults to honor and dignity.

"The anonymous report was "fitted with legs" – it was immediately put in the unified register of pre-trial investigations. The Department of Internal Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched a pre-trial investigation. Later, I was allegedly interrogated at my workplace and they conducted a search. However, at that moment I was officially on sick leave. The case got strung up, but, ultimately, for the disciplinary commission, this became the basis for dismissal for “negative reasons”. I believe the true purpose of the complaint is to initiate a check, find my appeal, remove it from all media and destroy it. Its content corresponded to the actual circumstances and discredited the leadership of the SCS of the Republic of Kazakhstan during the January events,"

the colonel added.

SIDE NOTE: By media, the colonel means in the context of informatics, i.e. devices used to store data (hard drives, CD-ROMs, diskettes, etc.) . He may also mean physical documents.

The lawyer representing Mazurenko's interests in court believes that the fact of the leadership's silence during the January events is "criminal inaction bordering treason."

Restoration of Honor

According to the materials provided, an official investigation was conducted against Mazurenko from February 10 to February 22 for the first time in 2022. The Almaty Police's Security Department launched a pre-trial investigation into the extortion report on February 11. All cases were stopped because they did not find signs of an offence.

Meanwhile, by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated March 3, 2022, No. 112 l/s Mazurenko was fired for gross violation of official discipline.

"I did not take part in the meeting of the disciplinary commission, I did not give explanations, I was not familiar with the results and was on sick leave during the specified period,"

the colonel assures.

As Vasily Mazurenko added, there are employees among in the SCS who are not afraid to speak. This should be enough for AntiKor or prosecutor's office employees to take an interest in the events inside the service.

All complaints and statements of Mazurenko and the lawyer sent to various instances are redirected to the Department of their own security, from where they receive a refusal. Not yet stripped of his rank, but for almost a year without a pension, the colonel insists that his rights have been grossly violated, and his honour has been tarnished.  

Lawyer Bauyrzhan Baltabayev appealed to the Almaty District Court of Astana with a statement of claim. The defendants were the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republican State Agency “The State Courier Service of the Republic of Kazakhstan". The petition was for the cancellation of the dismissal order. However, the court rejected the claim.

Vasily Mazurenko is counting on the restoration and recovery of wages from the management for the time of forced absenteeism. He also asks law enforcement agencies to evaluate his story. He also insists on investigating all the events taking place inside the service and taking appropriate measures.

Editorial board of Orda.kz additionally sent requests to the government office and the state courier service to express their position on this case.

Original Author: Alexander Smolin

DISCLAIMER: This piece is a translation. The text has been modified, the content is the same. Please refer to the original article in Russian for accuracy.