Proceedings Resume in the Kusheyev and Karimov Case in Almaty

The first hearing in the restarted main trial of bloggers Damir Kusheyev and Ruslan Karimov took place in Almaty. Orda.kz explains what happened in court.

The previous trial was halted on October 15 after one juror was hospitalized. A day earlier, the presiding judge, Bakhytkhan Bakirbayev, had also been taken away by ambulance. As a result, the court decided to empanel a new jury, assign a new judge, and begin the process from scratch.

Formally, proceedings resumed two weeks later, on October 29, when the new judge, Gaukhar Shalabayeva, announced the start of jury selection. Two additional sessions were held in November without media present.

On November 19, the trial fully restarted.

Background

Bloggers Damir Kusheyev and Ruslan Karimov, along with businessmen Andrey Belyansky and Kurmangazy Aitmukanov, are charged with extortion. According to investigators, they allegedly demanded 10 million tenge and the withdrawal of financial claims totaling another 20.5 million tenge from businessman Bakhtiyar Blayev.

In return, Kusheyev was allegedly supposed to delete compromising video material involving Blayev.

The defendants deny wrongdoing and insist the case is retaliation against Aitmukanov by Blayev. Kusheyev also faces a separate charge of bribing a police officer, which he likewise rejects.

A Day of Motions

The first hearing of the renewed trial was dominated by motions — primarily about adding audio and video evidence to the case, as well as summoning new witnesses.

The defense requested to call Blayev’s father and sister. Nearly all parties, including prosecutors, supported the idea, except Blayev and his lawyer. They argued the father had recently undergone two surgeries and was in recovery, while the sister, who is 18, was in a vulnerable psychological state.

Defendant Andrey Belyansky countered that he himself had just undergone surgery when he was taken into custody. Judge Shalabayeva left the request open, siding with neither party.

Dispute Over Video Evidence

A brief dispute arose around several videos the defense sought to admit, including TikTok clips from August 2023 related to the scooter theft that later led to the bribery allegation, as well as footage of Kusheyev following Blayev, meeting him at a gas station, and waiting outside the settlement colony where Blayev was sent by court order.

The clip recorded near the colony triggered debate because it contains the word zeki ("convicts" – Ed.)

Judge Shalabayeva agreed to admit the videos but added an instruction:

Given that this criminal case is being heard with a jury, it is prohibited to use any language that could undermine the honor and dignity of the participants in the process — both the defendant and the victim. However, in one of the audio recordings, there were phrases such as ‘convicts should sit,’ ‘what kind of hostel is this,’ and comments that the victim had a prior conviction. Since these words may damage the victim’s honor and dignity, we will admit this recording into evidence, but it will be shown to the jurors without sound.

Who are ‘zeki’? ‘Zek’ is an abbreviation — it means a prisoner being escorted by guards. We’re prisoners right now; here are the guards, we’re being escorted. There’s no insult here — that’s just a fact.
 said Kusheyev.

The judge clarified that only the problematic phrases would be muted, not the entire clip.

Kusheyev eventually agreed, and the dispute ended.

Jury Issue — Again

All motions were addressed before the jury entered the courtroom. But once the jurors arrived, it became clear one was missing. A juror had left the city due to a death in the family.

Judge Shalabayeva offered two options: replace the absent juror or postpone the next hearing until Friday. Most parties supported a postponement, and the juror assured the court she would return to Almaty quickly.

With that, the first hearing of the restarted main trial concluded.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin