The Taraz court found nine people accused after the January incident to be guilty. Five of them were shot dead in January last year. One of the other four was sentenced to two years in prison. The rest were released with reduced sentences or conditional sentences. Relatives of the convicted deceased say that they will fight against the verdict and fight for the acquittal of their loved ones.
JUDGMENT OF “GHOSTS”.
On February 7, Court No. 2 of the city of Taraz sentenced nine people who were charged with the January incident in the process known as the “Court of Ghosts”. Five of them were shot and killed during the January incident in Taraz last year. The defendants were charged with “relating to mass riots” (Parts 1, 2, 3 of Article 272 of the Criminal Code), “illegal possession, storage, transportation of ammunition” (Article 287).
A large number of people gathered to hear the verdict of the court, which began on November 23 last year, including relatives of the defendants, journalists and other people. Those who could not fit in the courtroom watched and listened to the moment of the verdict on a monitor in a separate hall.
Judge Baglan Torebekuly, who read the verdict, said that despite the fact that the state of emergency was introduced by the presidential decree from January 3, on the night of January 6, 2022, the nine defendants committed acts dangerous to society, destruction, burning, destruction of property, use of firearms and power. took part in the mass riots that led to armed resistance to their representatives”, said that they “disobeyed the legal requirements of the authorities, called for mass riots and carried ammunition illegally”.
“The guilt of the defendants has been objectively proven by the testimonies of the witnesses, video recordings, and the conclusions of forensic examinations,” said judge Torebekuly.
The court took into account the fact that Marat Bekbau had been convicted before and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment and to serve his sentence in a high-security penitentiary.
Askhat Tashekeev was also sentenced to two years of imprisonment, but he was released from the courtroom due to the amnesty.
Gani Kerimbaev was sentenced to three years of imprisonment. Kerimbaev was released from the courtroom because the term of the sentence was shortened due to the application of the law “On Amnesty” and that term has now been served.
The court sentenced Nurbol Yerezhepov to three years of imprisonment, according to the “Amnesty” law, and reduced his sentence to nine months of imprisonment.
All four pleaded not guilty to the charges against them during the trial. Before the verdict, Bekbau, Tashekeev and Kerimbaev were in the pretrial detention center, and Yerezhepov was under house arrest after giving a receipt stating that he would not go anywhere. Others from Bekbau left the courtroom.
The five people who were shot in January – Isatai Donbaev, Rais Rysbekov, Yerzhan Baizhanov, Nursultan Kuatbaev and Toktar Oshakbai were released from punishment due to their death, but the court found all five of them guilty.
The verdict has not yet entered into legal force. The judge informed the parties that they have the opportunity to file an appeal within 15 days.
“SHOOT AND KILLED THE INNOCENT, LET THE LITTLE GUILTY OUT”
Relatives of the deceased objected to the verdict of the Taraz court, which found him guilty of “participation in riots during January”. Some of them came to today’s meeting wearing shirts with their relatives’ pictures and names written on them.
Disappointed that the hope that the court would exonerate the deceased died, they asked the judge: “Why did you issue an unfair sentence despite the fact that there was no evidence against the accused?!” he asked.
Those who lost their relatives in the massacre in January said that the soldier of the security forces, who testified during the trial, admitted to shooting 91 times from an armored personnel carrier on January 6 last year in Taraz, and said that the authorities shot and killed innocent people without reason.
Women and angry men came out of the courtroom crying, “You are going to blame not only those you shot and killed”, “Where were you when you were killing my child, you savages!” he shouted and expressed his dissatisfaction with the authorities.
Doctors helped Sholpan Donbaeva, who was weak and wept bitterly after hearing the verdict of the court in which his late brother Isatai Donbayev, who was left behind by his wife and three minor children, was found guilty. Relatives suspect that Isatai was first shot elsewhere and then taken to the square.
- There is no blood where we said we found my brother who was shot in the head. They are not looking for those who killed him. What should I say to my three children? May God punish you! – said Sholpan Donbaeva.
People who were dissatisfied with the verdict stood in front of the court building for about an hour and a half demanding that the judge should explain why he gave such a sentence. But the judge did not meet them. “Let our relatives be acquitted! We will go to the Supreme Court to get justice,” they dispersed after some time.
Dozens of police officers were monitoring the situation at the courthouse from the moment the trial started on Tuesday, until the protesters dispersed.
According to official data, 15 people were shot dead in the January incident in Taraz last year. All cases related to human deaths have been closed. It is not known whether a criminal case has been initiated against nine more residents of Taraz who were shot in January. There is no official information about it.
Before that, the case of 17-year-old Andrey Opushiev, who died on the square in Taraz during the January incident, was examined by the specialized inter-district court for minors and found the teenager guilty. The mother of the deceased appealed against the verdict. The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international human rights organization, in its statement on December 20 last year, criticized the authorities of Kazakhstan for “one-sided investigation” of the January incident. “Almost a year after the January events, the families of the dead and hundreds of people injured or tortured are still seeking justice,” said Mira Rittman, HRW’s Central Asia researcher. The Prosecutor General’s Office does not agree to this.
Source: azattyq