Long Prison Terms Sought for Defendants in Almaty Mental Hospital Organized Crime Case

Prosecutors have requested lengthy prison sentences for defendants in a high-profile organized crime case connected to an Almaty mental hospital, reports an Orda.kz correspondent from the courtroom.

The trial, which has lasted nearly six months at the Almaty Specialized Interdistrict Criminal Court, examined 37 criminal counts.

The charges include kidnapping people with mental disorders from a psychiatric facility, homicides, fraudulent real estate schemes, and abuse of mentally ill patients.

The criminal network involved psychiatric hospital department heads, unauthorized notaries, a district inspector, real estate agents, a forensic expert, and other accomplices.

The group operated by obtaining information from social workers and doctors about isolated individuals with mental illnesses who owned property. Using falsified documents, they would transfer ownership of these properties to new owners and sell them below market value.

On February 27, during court proceedings, state prosecutor Nuraskhan Myrzaly requested the following sentences for the alleged organizers and leaders:

• Irina Gaparova - 20 years in a maximum security penal colony
  
• Ashirali Boltaboyev - 18 years in a maximum security penal colony
  
• Auelkhan Satayev - 20 years in a maximum security penal colony
  
• Other defendants face sentences ranging from four or more years of imprisonment.

For former psychiatric facility department heads, prosecutors requested 13 years for Aizhan Dzhusupgalieva, eight years for Maira Urazayeva, and four years for Gaziza Yeshmuratova, who headed a department at the Almaty Regional Center for Medical and Social Rehabilitation and Psychotherapy in Talgar.

The court heard testimony from all witnesses, including investigators and a confidential "hundredth witness." Two additional homicides are being investigated separately, along with document forgery cases involving state archive employees.

Original Author: Aliya Askarova