Qantar Case: First Court Hearing on Shooting of Zhagiparov Held

The trial concerning archaeologist Yerlan Zhagiparov's death on the night of January 6-7, 2022, started last week.
Shots from a Kalashnikov assault rifle killed him and another Almaty resident, Avatkhan Kapsalanov. The incident occurred on Republic Square during the 2022 January Events.
Orda.kz has put together a report of the first hearing.
The accused is 42-year-old retired lieutenant colonel Aitchan Aubakirov, a former National Guard deputy commander.
He faces charges under Part 2 of Article 451 of the Criminal Code, "Exceeding Authority or Official Authority, Resulting in Grave Consequences."
It provides for imprisonment from five to seven years.
The defendant has pleaded not guilty. The affected party stated they would seek to reclassify the charge from exceeding authority to homicide.
"For Official Use Only"
Yerlan Zhagiparov volunteered at the Petroglyph Hunters Society and participated in protecting historical items. Thus, the court proceedings caught the attention of media outlets.

The lawyers and the prosecutor sought to close the trial to journalists, citing documents in the criminal case materials marked "For official use only."
Such materials are not classified as state secrets but as documents of limited use. And the trial itself was declared open.
The affected party's representative, Saule Kobzhanova, protested closing the proceedings.
She drew an analogy with the high-profile criminal case of her client, the former Almaty Region Police Department head, Serik Kudebayev. He was accused of exceeding authority and torture during the January Events.
His trial in 2023 received full media coverage. The lawyer proposed holding a public trial to shed light on the events that unfolded on the night of January 6, 2022.
Presiding Judge Aidar Sekenov allowed the media to attend, except for examining materials marked "for personal use." At the defendant's and his lawyers' request, he prohibited journalists from recording them and posting images in the media.
Gaps
Investigators from the Almaty City Police Department initially handled the case.
They later transferred it to the Southern Regional Military Investigative Department. It took more than two years to clarify the circumstances of the deaths. During this time, military investigators collected materials for 26 volumes.
During the first court hearing, journalists did not learn what offense served as the reason to detain the two men, who were total strangers. Judging by the indictment read by prosecutor Yelzhan Kobey, the investigation did not identify all those implicated in their deaths.
Between 19:30 and 20:00, on the territory of Republic Square, unidentified officers of the special unit 'A' of the National Security Committee detained the victims Zhagiparov and Kapsalanov. Their escort until their subsequent transfer to the officers of the Internal Affairs Directorate was carried out by the commander of the first battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Baidibekov and his two sergeants, on the command of the commander of military unit 5571, Colonel Ospanbekov. Subsequently, unidentified servicemen of military unit 5571 exceeded their authority. Realizing that the detainees were not in a position to encroach on their lives and health, or to offer any resistance, they handcuffed them. After which they deliberately subjected the detainees to physical violence, striking them with their hands and feet on various parts of their bodies, including with an AK-74 compensator in the area of Zhagiparov's back and left leg, Kobey said.

During the proceedings, it was revealed that 410 servicemen of the National Guard military unit 5571, 200 from a Taldykorgan airborne assault brigade, 110 from the KNB special forces units "A," the National Guard unit "Berkut," and other security units maintained public order during the January Events on the Republic Square.
They were spread out along the barricades in the perimeter of Jeltoqsan, Satpayev, Nazarbayev, and Abay avenues.
The defendant and his former commander, a witness, claimed the security forces did not have a mutual radio channel.
Each spoke to fellow soldiers on specific frequencies and carried out the orders of their commanding officers.
This may be why military investigators could not establish the circumstances, such as where exactly were Zhagiparov and Kapsalanov after their arrest and who physically assaulted them on the night of January 6-7, 2022.
The investigation only identified the suspect, Aubakirov.
At approximately the interval from 11:00 p.m. on January 6 to 12:30 a.m. on January 7, Aubakirov received an order from the commander of military unit 5571, Ospanbekov, to release the detainees. He called the company commanders, captains Sagyndykov and Iztleu, and ordered them to remove the handcuffs from the detainees and take them out of the barricade. Following this order, Sagyndykov uncuffed both of Kapsalanov's hands and began uncuffing the handcuffs from Zhagiparov's right hand. The latter, fearing further abuse, abruptly pushed Sagyndykov away and, breaking free, ran with Kapsalanov towards Jeltoqsan Avenue, Kobei said.
The prosecutor then read how Lieutenant Colonel Aubakirov fired at the fleeing men with an AK-74 without specifying the exact time of the incident.
According to the expert's conclusion of February 7, 2022, Zhagiparov died from penetrating gunshot wounds to the chest and abdominal cavity with damage to internal organs, accompanied by external and internal bleeding and developing hemorrhagic and traumatic shock... According to the forensic medical examination conclusion of February 2, 2022, Kapsalamov died from acute blood loss as a result of penetrating gunshot wounds to the chest on the left and the lumbar region on the left with damage to the lung and loops of the small intestine, Kobei said.
The prosecution said Lieutenant Colonel Aubakirov violated the military service regulations.
According to them, a service member, in the event of an attack by unknown persons, must first fire a warning shot into the air and only then use lethal force.
Hour X
Defendant Aubakirov began his statements by offering condolences to the victims' friends and relatives in the courtroom, asking for their forgiveness, and expressing regret.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him, referring to the presidential order to shoot to kill when attacked.

The defendant claimed that on January 6, unknown individuals repeatedly fired at the barricades and tried to ram their fortifications with cars. One attack resulted in the death of two civilians.
An hour and a half after we released the detainees, a black car moved towards us. I shouted: ‘Ramming!’ At that moment, an attack was carried out on us from the direction of the RBC building – I saw flashes of gunfire. I fired warning shots into the air, then opened fire. Company commanders Sagyndykov and Iztleu opened fire on the black car heading towards us. It turned sharply in the opposite direction at high speed, and the flashes stopped. I did not see the attackers, I saw several silhouettes, I mean, it was one in the morning, poor visibility. The silhouettes faded away, after which we stopped shooting and remained at the line of our barricade, Aubakirov explained.
The defendant and his defense each time protested against the use of the word “shooting” by the prosecution, regardless of whether the target was rioters or detained civilians.
The victims' lawyer asked why Ospanbekov released the detainees.
He replied that he could not contact the police officers to take them and clarify all the circumstances.
Colonel Ospanbekov also could not reach the ambulance station, so he was forced to release Zhagiparov and Kapsalanov.

Ospanbekov said that on January 7, around lunchtime, he and his personnel regrouped with military unit 5571.
At the same time, Aubakirov did not report to his commanding officer about using lethal force, although he was obliged to. The responsible officers did not make a corresponding entry in the incident log or write a report.
Aubakirov explained that this inaction was caused by stress and fatigue.
Lawyer Saule Kobzhanova informed the court that the defendant had handed in all 120 cartridges initially issued.
According to his testimony, he fired 20 rounds, half of which were warning shots.
Aubakirov explained that ammunition was being delivered to the square, so he allegedly indicated the number of cartridges he received before taking up duty.
The defendant also said that he was attacked twice.
He sustained a head injury near the Halyk Arena and was assaulted when shielding another soldier with his body.
According to Aubakirov, he lost consciousness because of this and woke up from being kicked.
The demonstrators tried to rip off his shoulder straps and military uniform.
He claimed he did not become embittered, as he served in law enforcement for 24 years and endured what happened.
The Morgue
Zhagiparov's close friend, Askar Uvaliyev, also testified in court.
He said that on January 4 and 5, Yerlan was at his country house, so he was unaware of the events unfolding in Almaty.
On January 6, Askar invited Yerlan over. Closer to 7:00 p.m., Yerlan got ready to go home to his mother, who is being treated for cancer and unable to testify in court.
Askar believes his friend ended up at Republic Square by chance since he lived nearby, in the Samal micro-district.
About 40 minutes after Yerlan left, he called me and said that he had been detained by the National Guard. I asked him to hand the phone over to the law enforcement officers to find out the reason for the detention, and I heard swearing on the other end of the line. Later, during the investigation, I recognized Aubakirov's voice. Yerlan called me three times in total. I asked him why the heck he went to the square. And he replied that he heard gunshots, so he went there, thinking that someone might need help. I heard Yerlan screaming in pain and turning to someone with the words: 'We are the same, Kazakhs!' After midnight, Yerlan no longer picked up the phone, Uvaliyev said.

Askar has a friend who serves in the National Guard.
He said there was an order from the operational headquarters to detain curfew violators for 48 hours to clarify all the circumstances.
Another friend of Askar, a law enforcement officer, confirmed this.
Despite calming down after this news, Askar searched for Yerlan with his wife.
We couldn’t find him for five days. We didn’t think we’d find Yerlan in the morgue, but I went there anyway. I spent two days looking for him among the bodies, and I didn’t recognize him right away. I went through the bodies with my own hands, my goal was not to find Yerlan there, but I did. He had multiple wounds, his face was covered in bruises, punctures in his body, and a piece of flesh was sticking out of his thigh. I recognized him by the neck plate, which left him disabled. He had a handcuff on his left hand. It was clenched to such an extent that the bone in his hand was broken and his hand was dangling. Even the police couldn’t remove the handcuff at first, but then they somehow it came off.
The witness also told the court that Yerlan had two hunting rifles. After his death, they were found in his safe at home, and no one had fired them.
His wife, Lyailya Dzhasakbayeva, confirmed Askar Uvaliyev's statements, including Aubakirov swearing.
She also claimed to have heard Yerlan's screams from being assaulted.
We tried to find Yerlan on our own. We contacted the police stations where the lists of missing citizens were compiled, but they did not give us any information on the grounds that we were not Yerlan's relatives. Yerlan's body was taken from the morgue by his cousin since his mother could not come due to a broken hip, said Dzhasakbayeva.

The state prosecutor asked the witness to characterize Zhagiparov:
Yerlan was very kind, he could give what he had left to someone in need. He was a true patriot of his country, he was engaged, and voluntarily, in preserving petroglyphs. By nature, he was calm, not hot-tempered.
The defendant's lawyer asked Lyailya if she knew what Yerlan posted on social media on January 4 and 5 and whether he had expressed dissatisfaction with the authorities.
Yerlan was listed on Facebook as Yerlan Stepnyak. He was distant from politics. I know that he helped volunteers sort out the aftermath of mass riots on the streets of Almaty, and that, according to him, the volunteers were fed free pilaf, Dzhasakbayeva said.
No one could accurately state what, how, and in what order everything happened on January 6 and 7, 2022.
Indirect Damage?
Colonel Bakdaulet Ospanbekov also explained how he and his personnel maintained public order in Almaty and were attacked.
He also claimed to have seen three or four bodies on Satpayev Street and a wounded woman.

Ospanbekov said the National Guard service members feared moving about and spoke about Zhagiparov and Kapsalanov, as it seemed, little and reluctantly.
I saw the detainees from afar, they were standing behind our UAZs. Then they were brought to my subordinates by the KNB special forces, and I saw that they were in handcuffs. I did not approach the detainees because we were beeing shooting at then. Also, visibility was terrible, no more than two or three meters. I instructed to release the detainees so that they would not freeze, but I did not see how they were released, Ospanbekov said.
He also explained how 2,340 rounds of ammunition were brought to the square in three boxes.
However, they were distributed without being registered in the records and the logbook.
According to Ospanbekov, Aubakirov reported to him about the use of weapons against "rioter raiders."
Aubakirov kept silent about the fatal shooting, although he should have immediately reported this verbally or in writing.
I learned about the incident a month and a half after those events from employees of the military investigative bodies, who questioned me as part of the pre-trial investigation of the case.
The prosecution asked the witness how it happened that none of the responsible persons of military unit 5571 registered the fatal shooting on Republic Square if there were witnesses.
He explained that the reasons were fatigue and stress.
The affected party's lawyers asked to elaborate on what he and his officers were doing the day after the shooting.
Upon arrival at the military base, we checked the personnel, assigned them additional tasks to protect and defend the territory of our military base since we received operational information about an attack being prepared against us. Those servicemen who were injured were resting and building up strength. I reported everything to the leadership verbally. We had little time to write reports. Our soldiers went hungry all day long, there was no time for that. The officials responsible for maintaining the incident log were at a loss in those days, as they had encountered such events for the first time, Ospanbekov explained.
We will continue to follow the trial.
Original Author: Zhanar Kusanova
This is a translated piece. The original article was published in Russian on 20/12/24. For accuracy, please refer to it via link.
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