Sherzat Polat Case: Did Nurymov Dismiss Lawyers?

Orda.kz reached out to Sherzat Polat’s father, Karzhaubay Nurymov, to understand why the family made an unexpected decision shortly before the first court hearing.

On March 20, 2025, reports surfaced that the family of the teenager killed in Talgar in October 2024 had decided to end cooperation with human rights activist Aitbek Amangeldy. Initial reports suggested that Nurymov had dismissed all his lawyers, but activist Zhan Akhmadiyev later clarified that this was a misunderstanding.

Akhmadiev said the family had not waved legal support altogether but only severed ties with Aitbek Amangeldy. 

Their case is now being handled by lawyers Meirman Shekeyev and Zhandos Palmanov.

One of the lawyers from Aitbek’s team, Yerlan Adayev, stated that they were caught off guard by the family's decision and were not formally informed.

While our status remains unclear, we need to clarify this with Karzhaubay himself. We learned from strangers that other lawyers had actually came about. Karzhaubay could have simply told us: 'We want to bring in more lawyers' — we would not have been against it. After all, we had been working together for several months. But in personal correspondence, Karzhaubay clearly wrote that he was ending his cooperation with us. Now they say that they have dismissed Aitym, but Aitym is not a lawyer, he simply wanted to help as a citizen. Therefore, I think Karzhaubay and Perizat (ed. - Karzhaubay's sister) could have personally informed us of their decision,
he said 

Adayev emphasized that their involvement in the case was solely about seeking justice, not personal gain or publicity.

Meanwhile, the family's new lawyer, Meirman Shekeyev, stated that his team is open to cooperating with the previous legal representatives if they choose to remain involved.

At that time, he noted that he had been unable to obtain the case materials for two days.

When an Orda.kz journalist contacted Karzhaubay Nurymov for clarification, he gave a brief response:

I didn't say anything specific. I can't say anything bad about the lawyers. I have nothing else to add.

Aitbek Amangeldy posted a screenshot of his correspondence with Sherzat’s father on Instagram. In the messages, Nurymov appears to confirm his intention to dismiss the defense lawyers and expresses reluctance to participate in the trial.

The exchange also mentions that the family does not require a new home.

Additionally, Amangeldy revealed that five banks had written off the loans taken by Sherzat Polat’s family, some of which had been used for business development.

It remains unclear what decision has been made. The upcoming court hearings will likely clarify whether the original legal team has been removed or if the changes only concern Aitbek Amangeldy’s role.

Original Author: Raushan Korzhumbekova