On April 29th, special inter-district criminal court #2 in the Atyrau region announced its verdict against a group arrested in 2012 on charges of “intent to commit a terrorist act”. The trial, presided over by Judge Gulmira Daulyetova, began on March 27th. During the month-long trial the courthouse was under tight security, with video surveillance and officers from the regional police force.

THE CONVICTED

The trial was held behind closed doors, with eight lawyers and about a hundred witnesses taking part in the process. It was learned that the convicts, ranging in age from 20 to 47, are mostly residents of the Atyrau, Mangistau and West Kazakhstan regions. None of the prisoners' relatives were allowed to enter the court building, and they only learned of the sentence from the lawyers in the afternoon.

According to one of the attorneys, Serik Sulegaliev was sentenced to 18 years in prison, while Ybyray Adir and Kairat Mendigaziev received 17. Amanzhol Amanbayev, Sanjar Izbasar, Alpamys Izbasarov, Zhanbolat Orynbekov, Zholaman and Bakit Otarbayev, Kairat Nurzhanov, Adylbek Bekkulov, Aldiyar Saparov, and Serik Bayzullin all received 15 years. Makhambet Isagaliev was sentenced to 13 years, while Ruslan Mukhtarov and Meirbek Zhankuatov to 12 years imprisonment.

The convicted men were arrested last year in Atyrau on charges of “the promotion of terrorism, creating a terrorist group, and participation in such.” Galymjan Kumanov, Atyrau region assistant district attorney, published the information after some delay. The detainees’ names were not made public for a long time and only limited data on some of their origins was known. Only the names of three of the detainees were known — Meirbek Zhankuatov, Makhambet Isagaliev, and Ybyray Adir. They are residents of the village of Miyaly in the Kyzylkogin district of Atyrau region. It was reported that they were accused of “planning a terrorist attack against law enforcement bodies and security services.”

The court found the 16 defendants guilty “of the promotion of terrorism, incitement to commit a terrorist attack, and organizing, participating in, and financing a terrorist group.” According to one of the lawyers, the convicted men were members and leaders of a major terrorist group that “planned to establish links with international terrorist organizations in Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.” Our reporter from Radio ‘Azattyk’ learned that Ybyray Adir and Serik Sulegaliev are “particularly dangerous ideologues.” According to prosecutors, they “were training suicide bombers.”

Representatives of the city court and the regional prosecutor’s office did not comment to Radio ‘Azattyk’ on the case.

“TRIAL WAS BASED ON ASSUMPTIONS”

Bayan Shukirgalieva, mother of convicted Meirbek Zhankuatov, made several statements in Kazakhstan’s media that her son was arrested without cause. Wishing that the hearings be conducted fairly, she wrote letters to the President, Attorney General, and Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

“My son is only 20 years old,” said Bayan Shukirgalieva. “By this verdict they’ve chopped up an innocent child’s destiny, as if with an ax. Not a single witness spoke against my son.”

Attorney Aybar Kosynbayev, who defended Meirbek Zhankuatov, Ybyray Adir, Makhambet Isagaliev, and Ruslan Mukhtarov, said that he was brought into the case rather late.

“I cannot say with respect to the others, but as for my defendants I can say that they were convicted solely on the basis of various assumptions, such as ‘someone said this, while someone else said that’,” the attorney told a reporter from Radio ‘Azattyk’. “There is only one Law for everyone, and a conviction without evidence is a real transgression against the Law.”

One of his defendants — Ruslan Mukhtarov — was among those who rented a house in Atyrau, where an explosion took place in September last year.

“No direct evidence was provided that would confirm his involvement in the explosion,” the attorney added. “Had he engaged in the manufacture of explosives, then they should have been able to find some evidence on him after the explosion.” Attorney Kosynbayev added that he was ready to appeal the case upwards through all the courts.

RINGLEADER

The eldest among inmates — 50-year-old Ybyray Adir — is the father of seven children. According to his wife Gulmira, Ybyray provided for his children by renting out his car.

“He was charged with theft of livestock, preparing an attack against officers of the national security service, and keeping a gun and 50 rounds of ammunition in his home,” said Gulmira Ykhylasova. “These are false allegations. They said he was ‘the chief agitator of the terrorists’. Ybyray never refused to help anyone, sharing whatever money he had. Now they say that he was financing terrorists.”

Ykhylasova stated that the family is now without a breadwinner. Many lawyers refused to defend her husband when they learned that he was charged under Article 233 of the Criminal Code (terrorism charges).

In Atyrau, this is the second time that a verdict was read against a group of people on terrorism charges, leading to long prison sentences being imposed. Here in April 2012, 47 were convicted on charges of terrorism. As a result of the trial, at the time unprecedented in scope, the convicted men were sentenced to from 5 to 15 years in prison.

On Radio ‘Azattyk’ (Liberty)
By Saniya Toyken, April 29th, 2013

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