Kozhagapanov Case: Family Member Claims Investigators’ Abuse

The appeal of former Vice Minister of Culture Yerlan Kozhagapanov is underway in the Astana City Court, Orda.kz reports.

Kozhagapanov was sentenced to three years in prison for abuse of office during the organization of the 2018 Kazakhstan-Russia Cooperation Forum. Investigators allege that one billion tenge of budget funds were stolen in the process. Alongside him, businesswoman Lyazzat Kokkozova — whose agency SUCCESS K was contracted to organize the forum — was convicted of large-scale fraud and sentenced to five years in prison.

Both defendants are appealing the verdict. On Aug. 20, Kozhagapanov himself, his daughter Zhamilya — acting as his public defender — and Kokkozova’s sister Perizat Bekturganova spoke in court.

In his address, Kozhagapanov insisted that the case was built on false testimony. He urged the judges to overturn the original verdict “due to the absence of corpus delicti.”

His daughter accused then-Anti-Corruption Agency investigators of serious violations during the probe:

A group of 8 or 10 investigators unlawfully entered the house, destroyed property, endangered my mother’s life. Namely, they smashed a glass door on my mother in order to enter the house. For me, this has been a huge trauma ever since. They did not introduce themselves, did not show the resolution. I generally thought that they came to rob us. They did not come as an agency that administers justice and protects citizens. They came as bandits,
 Zhamilya Kozhagapanova told the court.

Bekturganova, representing her sister, criticized the decision to bar Kokkozova from participating in the appeal:

My sister was deprived of the opportunity to participate in this trial and hear what other participants in the process say, to express her point of view. And on her behalf, I once again ask the esteemed judges to give her the opportunity to speak in her own defense

The court rejected her request, stating the decision had already been finalized.

Earlier, Kokkozova’s defense sought the involvement of the Commissioner for the Protection of Entrepreneurs’ Rights, Kanat Nurov. The judges left that petition pending until additional documents are submitted.

The appellate proceedings are ongoing.

Original Author: Dinara Bekbolayeva