Working in Antikor, Nazarbayev's Nephew Abused Authority

"Old” Kazakhstan is infamous for cases where people faced injustice, persecution, and pressure. Rehabilitation and acquittal still escape some even though a new government is at the helm. Current legislation does not provide a mechanism for reviewing their cases. Deputy Abzal Kuspan has recalled specific cases that were related to the arbitrary actions of Nursultan Nazarbayev's inner circle. Orda quotes the Majilis deputy in detail.

According to Abzal Kuspan, many criminal cases in Old Kazakhstan were created artificially and passed through the courts without proper consideration. The Majilis deputy shared with Arasha.kz that Bolat Nazarbayev's son, Yerbol Nazarbayev, was involved in several such cases. According to Kuspan, the nephew of the ex-president, while working in Antikor, often abused his official position.

Nursultan Nazarbayev and his clan could do whatever they wanted in the days of Old Kazakhstan. They could take over businesses, fire people, harass them. Many have been wrongfully accused and convicted. Not one, but several examples can be given. I will not talk about Bolat Nazarbayev, but I know several cases involving the direct involvement of his son, Yerbol. As a member of the committee of the legal department, I know a lot about him.

One of these cases is a criminal case involving a major general. The deputy did not specify his name. The officer once headed the personnel department of the Ministry of Defense. According to Kuspan, he opposed the appointing of a young lieutenant to the post of head of the defense department of the Karasay district in the Almaty region.

The opposition was well grounded: the candidate did not have the relevant experience nor did he meet the requirements. A criminal case was opened against the defense department personnel officer for receiving a 200-thousand-tenge bribe. The Major General would later be convicted and sentenced.

Reviewing the case, I was convinced that he was convicted unfairly. The Supreme Court initially stated that "there is a corpus delicti." The appeal was not overturned. All the initial circumstances are indicated in the initiated cassation ruling. It is even obvious that the case was initiated groundlessly, organized artificially. But why wasn't it overturned? Because Bolat Nazarbayev's son, Yerbol Nazarbayev, was involved, he himself submitted it for consideration, the deputy said.

When Connections Solve Everything

Another case involves Nauryzbay Rakyshev, the former chief physician of the maternity hospital No. 1 in Almaty.

In August 2019, Rakyshev was detained in his office "while receiving a 200-thousand-tenge bribe from a certain Shayakhmetova." At the time, Antikor reported that Shayakhmetova was an entrepreneur and had previously claimed extortion had been committed by the chief physician.

On July 19th, I was urgently called back from holiday. The criminal case against me was fabricated by a group led by Yerbol Bolatuly Nazarbayev. At that time, he held the position of head of the operational department for combating corruption in Almaty, Nauryzbay Rakyshev said.

In the same year, the Almaly district court sentenced the former chief physician to a six-million-tenge fine. He had also been handed down a lifelong ban on holding positions in the civil service and any organization with over a 50% state share in the authorized capital.

The court, violating paragraph 2 of the normative resolution of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated April 29, 2018, biased, fully, and comprehensively examined the evidence of my guilt, did not give the criminal prosecution authority's proper assessment of violations of the law committed. According to the presumption of innocence and article 19 of the CPC, a guilty verdict cannot be based on assumptions and must be supported by credible evidence, Rakyshev says.

Majilis deputy Abzal Kuspan also believes that he may be innocent.

I have studied the materials related to the chief physician in detail. He was wrongly tried. We talked to him personally and he admitted that Yerbol Nazarbayev was involved. At the same time, according to him, pressure was exerted on him: they said, if he did not plead guilty, then he would be forced to go about it "in a different way", and that he must obey unconditionally. He was even promised a non-custodial sentence in return.

Similarities in Cases Initiated by Yerbol Nazarbayev

Kuspan sees the need to create a special commission that would review unfair judicial decisions made by the previous authorities.

Firstly, few people know about these events. The cases initiated by Yerbol Nazarbayev are unknown to the general public. At the same time, in both cases, it is suspicious, they had been accused of receiving a "two-hundred-thousand-tenge" bribe. The third instance - the case passed through the court, the investigating authorities, the prosecutor's office without problems,  he said.

Abzal Kuspan emphasizes that many Kazakhstanis caught up in far-fetched accusations still reach out to deputies for help.

Without taking decisive measures and creating a commission capable of reviewing past cases, restoring trust in the government and the justice system will be impossible, the Majilis deputy notes.

Kuspan suggests that the commission should include not only deputies and lawyers but also representatives of the public, human rights organizations, and legal experts. They will ensure maximum objectivity and fairness in the review of cases.

Yerbol Nazarbayev joined the Anti-Corruption Agency in 2015. He worked in this department for seven years, holding various positions. Six months after Qantar, as reported by Antikor, he left at his own request.

Original Author: Zarina Fayzulina

DISCLAIMER: This is a translated piece. The text has been modified, the content is the same. Please refer to the original piece in Russian for accuracy.