Investigation of Bloody January: Colonel Iskakov Ready to Testify against Samat Abish

Orda.kz looked into why one of the main suspects in the organization of the January events does not admit his guilt, what claims he makes to the investigation, and what he is going to state in court. 

Our editorial staff is closely monitoring the progress of the investigation into the high–profile case of one of the main suspects in the organization of the January riots in Almaty, Colonel Ruslan Iskakov. 

The colonel headed the 5th Department of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan and was responsible for counterintelligence support of the country's law enforcement agencies. He also fought organized crime in Kazakhstan. However, in January 2022, Iskakov was detained. He has been accused of creating and leading a gang and exceeding power.

The colonel has refused to admit his guilt, considering the charges fabricated and politically motivated. He went on a dry hunger strike in protest against violations of his procedural rights during the investigation in November 2022.

The other day Orda journalists learned that Iskakov had stopped his hunger strike. He is currently gathering his thoughts and strength for the upcoming trial. He intends to denounce those whom he considers the real culprits of the January tragedy and his current predicament.

His wife, Saule Iskakova, informed Orda on which arguments the colonel intends to bring in his defence and which against the prosecution.

Dry Hunger Strike

We asked Saule about the current state of her husband's health and how the consequences of prolonged abstinence from eating have affected him.

"Ruslan's dry hunger strike lasted a total of 72 days. Naturally, this had a negative effect on his health. For example, on January 6, 2023, he could not get up for a walk and go to a meeting with lawyers, so he had to call an ambulance. We applied several times for a comprehensive medical examination for Ruslan, and, in the end, we achieved our goal."

According to her, the medical examination was conducted on January 10, 2023, at the regional military hospital of the KNB.

"Ruslan was diagnosed with asthenic condition due to the prolonged lack of eating, hemangioma of the left lobe of the liver, chronic gastroduodenitis, biliary dyskinesia and chronic pancreatitis. Life-threatening cardiac diseases have also been identified, such as coronary heart disease, sinus bradycardia, sinus node weakness syndrome with a reduction in heart rate to 45 beats per minute."

After learning about the sharp deterioration of Ruslan's health, his mother, wife and children persuaded him to stop his hunger strike on January 16, 2023. He is now gradually returning to a normal diet.

"Nevertheless, my husband's well-being remains unimportant. And this is despite the fact that the management of the detention center periodically calls doctors for him, and he lies under a drip. It is not yet possible to hospitalize Ruslan in a regular hospital."

As for the conditions of Iskakov's detention, for the first 7 months, he was kept in a solitary cell of the KNB pre-trial detention centre. According to Saule, a cellmate later moved in with him. There is also no separate medical ward in the pre-trial detention centre.

Ruslan’s wife also assures that the investigation is taking advantage of Iskakov's poor health.

"All investigative measures involving Ruslan are carried out formally. He is just physically present, but does not participate in them for health reasons. We petitioned for their postponement 20 times, but the investigation authorities ignored all our requests."

What Are The Charges?

The criminal case against Ruslan Iskakov was initiated in January 2022. He was charged under the following articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan:

• Creation and management of a criminal organization (Article 262 Part 3)
• Creation and management of a gang (Article 268 Part 3)
• Organization of mass riots (Article 272 Part 1)
• Abuse of power or official authority (Article 362 Part 4 of paragraph 3)
• Kidnapping (Article 28 Part 3-125 part 3 of paragraph1,3)
• Unlawful deprivation of liberty of a person (Article 28, part 3-126, part 3, paragraph 1)

"The criminal case is being conducted by the interdepartmental investigative and operational group of the Prosecutor General's Office. It also includes employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Financial Monitoring Agency. Despite the full carte blanche, the accusation for some reason consists entirely of references to unidentified circumstances, unidentified persons and time. That is, as such, the investigation does not have an ironclad evidence base for the prosecution,"

Ruslan’s wife says.

The criminal article “Torture" is not in the indictment. The convicted, Muratkhan Tokmadi, insisted on it when he accused Ruslan Iskakov of using illegal investigative methods against him in 2017-2018.

According to Tokmadi, Iskakov was one of the heads of the investigative task force of the KNB in 2017. They investigated the high-profile case of the murder of the head of BTA Bank, Yerzhan Tatishev, in 2006. Tokmadi was then the main suspect. According to him, Iskakov tortured him to extract confessions in the banker's murder. On September 2, 2022, the Anti-Corruption Service for the city of Almaty recognized Tokmadi as a victim in the case of torture in the KNB.

We asked Colonel Iskakov's wife how her husband comments on Tokmadi's accusation against him.

"There can be no question of any torture, since the criminal case against Tokmadi in 2017 was investigated not by Ruslan, but by a special prosecutor. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that for 5 years Tokmadi, in the presence of lawyers, voluntarily admitted his guilt in the charges brought against him. This happened both during the investigation and at the trials, then during television talk shows and broadcasts. The logical question here is: why had he not previously reported torture? Yes, because there was none!"

According to Ruslan's wife, after the January events, Tokmadi, having learned that Iskakov was detained, wrote a statement to law enforcement agencies accusing him of torture. He apparently hoped to somehow influence the revision of his sentence this way. 

Tokmadi was found guilty in 2018 of murdering the banker and sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison.

And what about the accusation concerning the patronage of the famous criminal authority, Arman Dzhumageldiyev, [Ed. Wild Arman]? Iskakov reportedly protected him for many years. During the January riots in Almaty, he also allegedly coordinated the actions of Wild Arman’s organized criminal group when he kidnapped 24 people and then took them to different places.

"Ruslan declares that he never patronized Arman, as they were, figuratively speaking, on different sides of the barricades. My husband fought organized crime, he served the Fatherland faithfully, so all the statements and suspicions that he allegedly protected someone from criminal authorities are nonsense!"

Line of Defense

Three lawyers and his spouse on the rights of a public defender defend Colonel Iskakov.

"Ruslan considers this criminal case to be politically motivated, and the accusation is obviously false and falsified. It seems to us that the investigation is clearly trying to make him the organizer of the January tragedy in order to lead the former first deputy chairman of the National Security Committee, Samat Abish, the ex-head of the National Security Committee for Almaty, Nurlan Mazhilov, and other officials who may be involved in Qantar [Ed. January in Kazakh] away from criminal responsibility.”

We also asked her what orders the KNB generals gave to Colonel Iskakov during Blood January.

“Samat Abish gave an order to Ruslan to rescue policemen from the building of the Akimat of Almaty seized by participants of mass riots. Nurlan Mazhilov demanded to ensure the safety of all city hospitals where wounded protesters were admitted. At the same time, both of them then insisted that he turn to Wild Armand for help, and now the generals disown their words. They say that they did not give Ruslan such orders!"

Why did the prosecutors turn against Colonel Iskakov so much? Why was he chosen as the "scapegoat"?

"Ruslan believes that a criminal case was fabricated against him in retaliation to the fact that he refused to falsely denounce the ex-head of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov, and his deputy, Daulet Yergozhin. According to him, the head of the investigative task force of the Prosecutor General's Office, Timur Kryldakov, allegedly addressed him with such a proposal."  

What violations of Iskakov's procedural rights did his lawyers and public defender face?

“You know, violations were recorded at the entire stage of the preliminary investigation of the case. We filed petitions for the seizure of some documents from the KNB in order to prove that Ruslan acted strictly in accordance with the law, job descriptions and orders of his superiors. We wanted to ask a number of additional questions to the experts and interrogate one of the witnesses who would unequivocally confirm his innocence in the incriminated acts. So the leadership of the investigative task force of the Prosecutor General's Office first satisfied our petitions, then suddenly refused. So there is no competition between the parties: the prosecutors have an obviously [Ed. more] advantageous positions than the defence.”

According to Saule, investigators recognized 24 people as victims. However, her husband denies being acquainted with them and causing harm to their health or property.

"Ruslan has nothing to do with these people. He found out about their existence only during the investigation. There was not even a confrontation between them, because they are not familiar with each other."

We asked whether Akorda or the heads of law enforcement agencies reacted to Iskakov's open letter to President Toqayev, in which he appealed to the head of state for help.

"Alas, we have to state that his letter passed by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the first heads of law enforcement agencies. It was forwarded to the prosecutor's office, which, of course, found no reason to respond objectively to it. The supervisory authority provided us with a formal, template response."

According to Saule, the investigation into her husband's case officially ended on December 23, 2022. Prosecutors have yet to provide the suspects and their defenders with materials for familiarization. The lawyers don't even know how many volumes there are. Nevertheless, they and their clients are preparing for a decisive battle in court.

"Apparently, our case will be considered by the specialized interdistrict criminal court of Almaty. Ruslan hopes that in an open, impartial trial he will be able to prove his innocence and non-involvement in the crimes that he is accused of!"

What defence tactics did Iskakov and his lawyers choose in the upcoming trial – passive or active?

“Despite all the attempts of the interdepartmental investigative task force of the Prosecutor General's Office to keep Ruslan silent, he is not going to remain silent. He wants to speak publicly in court and prove that Samat Abish gave all the orders in January 2022, as he was in charge of the operational headquarters in the KNB. Iskakov, as a subordinate, unquestioningly fulfilled them, as they concerned the salvation of our citizens: policemen, doctors, patients.”

And does the colonel have the spirit and courage to report his former boss? For example, to tell in court what dubious or illegal orders the general gave in other years, while he was the first head of the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan?

“Yes, if necessary, Ruslan is ready to talk about other orders given by Abish during the entire period of his service. However, it remains unclear why the nephew of the ex-president of the country under such circumstances is deliberately being led away from criminal responsiblity? Abish arrived tanned from Dubai for interrogations by prosecutors, while my husband has been detained for a year and the role of organizer of the January events has been assigned to him. At the same time, the investigation cannot answer our main question: why did Ruslan need all this? What reason did he have to organize mass riots?”

Saule Iskakova finished the interview with the old postulate of detectives: “Look for someone who benefits from it!”

"I think there is only an honest answer to the question: "Who needed a bloody Qantar?" it will allow all of us to find out what really happened in January 2022, and who is behind it all.”

Original Author: Zhanar Kusainova

DISCLAIMER: This is a translated piece. The text has been modified, the content is the same. For accuracy please refer to the original article in Russian.