Trial of Elvira Yerkebayeva Suspended; Human Rights Activists Speak Out

The trial of Elvira Yerkebayeva, accused of ordering the contract killing of her husband, has been paused following the dismissal of the jury, Orda.kz reports.

Human rights activists used the break to make several public statements in her defense.

Chairperson of NeMolchi Dina Tansari and Yerkebayeva’s lawyer Tamara Sarsenova plan to submit a request to the Supreme Court to move the trial to an online format accessible to the public. This was done in the 2024 case of former Economy Minister Kuandyk Bishimbayev and in the ongoing high-profile Sherzat Polat homicide trial in Talgar.

The activists are also calling for Yerkebayeva to be released from custody and placed under house arrest.

Elvira is not guilty. An innocent person has been in prison for 455 days in a depressed state. She needs a psychologist, peace at home. We insist that the measure of restraint against her be changed. We ask the prosecutor's office, the Supreme Court to consider our application and support it. We ask for the support of Kazakhstanis – without it, it is difficult to reach the authorities,
said Dina Tansari at a press conference. 

She noted that NeMolchi had reached out to UN special rapporteurs and the Human Rights Research organization.

Case Background

Elvira Yerkebayeva is accused of arranging the contract killing of her ex-husband in the West Kazakhstan Region.

She and her alleged accomplice, Maksim Kuznetsov, are on trial under Article 99 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan – “Homicide committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy.”

They face 15 to 20 years in prison.

Investigators allege that Yerkebayeva planned the hit to take over her ex-husband’s property. Kuznetsov allegedly recruited a hitman, Galiev, a repeat offender with previous convictions for theft and robbery.

However, Galiev reported the plan to the police.

The defense maintains that Yerkebayeva never intended to kill her husband. She was seeking a non-lethal weapon for self-defense and asked Kuznetsov to help her find one.

He got in touch with a certain criminal type, Galiev, through his friends. He offered to buy him a combat pistol because you can't do anything with a traumatic one. Then the recidivist Galiev writes a statement to the police, flies to Astana, meets with representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they give him equipment to listen in on conversations with Yerkebayeva and Kuznetsov, and he begins to provoke them into committing a crime,
said lawyer Tamara Sarsenova. 

She claims law enforcement instructed Galiev, who was equipped with concealed recording devices. In court, wiretapped conversations were presented as evidence. Experts found that Galiev made 779 statements described as “dominant, indicative, and commanding,” while Yerkebayeva responded with just 88 words.

The lawyer called the operation a setup.

Why was this done? Perhaps, to please new shoulder straps, to please their own indicators that a particularly serious crime was solved,
she added. 

The defense argues the motive is unproven, as all of the Yerkebayev family’s property — two apartments and a gym — is registered to Elvira Yerkebayeva.

Who is Elvira Yerkebayeva?

Elvira Yerkebayeva is from Aqsay, Burlin District, in the West Kazakhstan Region. She married Yerbol Yerkebayev at age 19.

Elvira Yerkebaeva lived in fear for more than 20 years. After the birth of her daughter and son, she, as a decent mother, tried to create normal conditions for her children. But she failed because her husband, Yerbol, has a criminal past. He has convictions for causing serious and moderate injuries to people. All these years, he tyrannized his wife. When the children grew up, he began to take out his aggression on them,
said Sarsenova. 

She added that Yerkebayeva had attempted suicide twice.

During the trial, her daughter testified about the abuse:

We were all crying – the jury and the prosecutor. There was an heavy silence in the courtroom as the child tried to hold back her tears and testify in a calm voice about how her father had abused her mother, assaulted her, insulted her with obscenities, and forced his younger brother to do push-ups until he fell over exhausted,
 Sarsenova recounted.

The Court

A new prosecutor has been appointed to the case. At the most recent hearing, he requested that the jury be dismissed:

Since the biographies of several of them were found to be inconsistent with the requirements for jurors. Ten months of court work down the drain. Payment for the jury's work down the drain,
said lawyer Sarsenova.

The trial has effectively restarted. A new jury selection is scheduled to begin on June 1.

Orda.kz will continue to follow the case.

Original Author: Svetlana Makarova