Wife of Detained Blogger Says Police Blocked Her Bank Account

Akmeir Kusheyeva says that her access to her account was blocked after her husband's detention, reports Orda.kz.

On social media, Damir Kusheyev's wife said that an investigator from the Almaty Police Department was allegedly involved in blocking the account.

Police Senior Lieutenant Nurgazy Kulchebayev blocked my personal card. Now they are trying to threaten me. If the Police Department is blocking my account, then let them provide my five children with baby food, medicine, groceries, and money. My relatives were transferring money to my card to help the children, Akmeir stated.

An Orda.kz correspondent asked a lawyer's opinion about how lawful the police actions were in the case of the detainee's wife.

As explained to us by the Almaty Bar Association, the investigation must have grounds for freezing accounts.

Everything depends on who is suspected and of what. If this woman's husband is suspected of embezzlement or misappropriation of funds, then the investigator's actions are quite justified. Of course, there need to be grounds for this. Perhaps the investigation believes that money was being transferred to the wife's account,lawyers suggest.

The lawyers do not deny that the investigator's actions could have been unlawful. They advise in such cases to appeal the decision through court.

Bloggers Damir Kusheyev and Ruslan Karimov were detained after they published a video on social media showing convicted businessman Bakhtiyar Blayev, who is serving his sentence in a settlement colony, freely moving around Almaty in a Land Cruiser. 

Original Author: Aliya Askarova