Kazakhstan: Military Court Upholds 13-Year Sentence for Lieutenant Who Killed Conscript

The appellate board of the Astana military court recently considered the appeals of Lieutenant Damir Dosov's defense, Orda.kz reports.

Conscript soldier Marat Barkulov died on September 7, 2024, during training with units of the regional command "West" at the "Oimasha" training ground in the Mangystau region. 

The conscript was shot with a Makarov pistol by Lieutenant Damir Dosov.

In the appellate court, Dosov's mother, Ulbolsyn Dumshebaeva, shared how her son dreamed of being a military man, studied well, and fulfilled all the charter requirements. 

She considers the punishment imposed by the court of first instance - 13 years of imprisonment - too harsh.

The court handed down such a harsh sentence because of the reaction. There was a lot of noise around this case, so the court imposed such a long term, said Ulbolsyn Dumshebayeva.

In her appeal, she pointed out numerous violations during the investigation.

According to her, her son was questioned day and night without a lawyer, and witnesses changed their testimony several times and told lies in court.

Dumshebayeva asked to reclassify his actions from Article 99, Part 1 of Kazakhstan's Criminal Code — "Homicide" to Article 462, Part 2 of the Criminal Code — "Violation of The Regulations for Handling Weapons, as well as Substances and Objects Posing a Danger to Others, Resulting in The Death of a Person from Negligence." 

The punishment under this section is imprisonment for up to five years.

Damir Dosov's lawyers supported this position.

The court left the sentence unchanged.

Leave the verdict of the specialized inter-district military court for criminal cases of Astana dated January 24, 2024 unchanged, and the appeals of the defendant and defense attorneys are dismissed, The presiding judge Galymzhan Nasirdinov announced. 

On January 24, the court sentenced Damir Dosov to 13 years of imprisonment in a medium-security facility. He was also stripped of his military rank of guard lieutenant.

By court order, Dosov must also pay the victim's mother, Asiya Barkulova, 20 million tenge in compensation for moral damages.

The trial was held in open court.

Witnesses said the lieutenant threatened them with a pistol and used foul language. Damir Dosov claimed that he had no intention of killing Marat Barkulov.

Original Author: Anastasia Prilepskaya