The harsh criminal sentencing of Konstantin Syroyezhkin (known in Kazakhstan as a sinologist and political science expert) accused of high treason was one of the most resonant events of the first half of this October. But whose spy was he?
Syroyezhkin was arrested by the NSC officers on February 19, 2019. However, this fact became known only in the beginning of May. Later, we learned that, as early as on January 15, 2019, a criminal case was open against Syroyezhkin Konstantin Lvovich, born in 1956, on suspicion of violating Part 1 of Article 175 of the Kazakh Criminal Code — «High Treason».
The information that, on October 7, Syroyezhkin was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment first appeared on social media and, only on the next day, October 10, the NSC’ official press-released was published.
Here is a quote from it: «On October 7, 2019, the Almaty Specialized Interdistrict Criminal Court found Syroyezhkin Konstantin Lvovich, a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan, guilty of high treason (Part 1 of Article 175 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan) and sentenced him to 10 years of imprisonment.
Syroyezhkin’s colleagues from the expert community reacted to the news differently; but what was curious was that no one had blamed him even though he was found guilty of high treason and many even expressed their bewilderment in regard to what happened. In our opinion, the absence of any kind of information about what he had done, apart from the massive distrust to the state and its actions widespread in the society, plays a significant role in the lack of the negative attitude towards Konstantin Syroyezhkin.
Moreover, it is not exactly known in whose interests he was acting. It is for this reason anyone who wants to assess what has happened, will have to reconstruct the whole story. And since everyone who does it has minimum information and takes their own understanding of the situation as the point of departure, it all results is a cacophony.
Not claiming that our version of the «guesswork» is closest to the truth, we will try and assess the resonant case by comparing the official information and the opinions of those who have known Konstantin Syroyezhkin for a number of years if not decades.
In our opinion, the key issues of the case at hand are these — the accused’s citizenship, to whose benefit the high treason was committed, what foreign state agency he was working for (or was in contact with) and how sensitive the information that he passed on (could have passed on) was.
According to human rights advocate, Director of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law Evgeniy Zhovtis, Konstantin Syroyezhkin is a Russian citizen. Here is a quote from his interview to newspaper Karavan of May 20, 2019: «First, I would like to point out that Mr. Syroyezhkin is a Russian citizen and he is being accused not of high treason but of espionage. He could only have committed high treason if he was a Kazakh citizen».
In the meantime, the NSC’s official press-release of October 10, 2019, states it quite clearly that Konstantin Syroyezhkin is a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
This discrepancy between the words of Evgeniy Zhovtis and the NSC’s press-release is not hard to explain: in Kazakhstan, it is customary for the country’s citizens (and not only for those of the Russian descend) to receive the Russian citizenship. Such cases exist in abundance; with that, a part of the «newly converted» continues using the passports of both states. By doing so, they are only violating the Kazakh law that prohibits dual citizenship.
For this reason, one may assume that Konstantin Syroyezhkin was planning to make Russia his permanent place of residence especially since he had reached the retirement age and, therefore, obtained the Russian citizenship. The reasons why he didn’t relinquish his Kazakh citizenship immediately are also clear: starting from the habitual procrastination and ending with the usefulness of having the two foreign passports of which the Russian one is more preferable from the freedom of movement standpoint.
The Almaty Specialized Interdistrict Criminal Court has based its verdict on the fact that Syroyezhkin had not been deprived from the Kazakh citizenship in accordance with the law. For this reason, he was convicted for «high treason» and not «espionage».
Let us remind you that the first article affects the country’s citizens, the second one — foreign citizens and persons of no citizenship. For instance, according to Article 175 of the Kazakh Criminal Code (text in bold by kz.expert):
«High treason, in other words, deliberate actions of a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan expressed in defecting to the enemy’s side at the time of a military conflict as well as in espionage, a disclosure of state secrets to a foreign state, international or foreign organization or their representatives directed against the national interests of the Republic of Kazakhstan».
In its turn, Article 176 of the Kazakh Criminal Code («Espionage») stipulates:
«Passing on as well as collecting, stealing or storing state secrets for the purpose of disclosing them to a foreign state, international or foreign organization or their representatives as well as passing on or collecting, upon foreign secret service’s order, other data for the purpose of using it against the national interests of the Republic of Kazakhstan if these actions are committed by a foreign citizen or a person with no citizenship».
In our opinion, the main reason why Konstantin Syroyezhkin was tried as a citizen of Kazakhstan and not of Russia lies in Akorda’s worries that this fact could be used by certain Russian media and political groups to their advantage. Including the igniting if not hatred then dislike for Kazakhstan as well as a possible involvement of the Russian human rights advocacy groups in the defense.
With that, one should note that the NSC’ official press-release says nothing about the fact that, based on the verdict of the Almaty Specialized Interdistrict Criminal Court of October 7, 2019, Konstantin Syroyezhkin was deprived from the Kazakh citizenship. However, this information can be found in the press’ announcements that cite the court’s decision, for instance, on Zakon.kz.
Here is a quote (text in bold by kz.expert).
«The court has also deprived him from the citizenship of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The convicted will serve his sentence in the maximal security facilities. After serving the main sentence based on Article 51 of the Criminal Code, Konstantin Syroyezhkin will be involuntarily deported from the Republic of Kazakhstan and will be banned from entering the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan for five years».
This discrepancy can be explained by the fact that the court first convicted Konstantin Syroyezhkin as a Kazakh citizen and then deprived him from the citizenship since he had obtained the Russian one. Then, the court applied Article 51 of the Criminal Code that, among other things, stipulates (text in bold by kz.expert):
«1. Deportation of a foreigner or a person with no citizenship form the Republic of Kazakhstan is carried out in the involuntary manner and prohibits this person from entering the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan for five years».
With that, 2. Deportation of a foreigner or a person with no citizenship from the Republic of Kazakhstan for committing a crime may be carried out as an additional punishment; for committing a misdemeanor, as both the main and the additional punishment».
Here is the question to which we do not have an answer: to which country’s benefit has Mr. Syroyezhkin committed high treason?
If we are to believe the previous publications in the Kazakh press and on the internet, he has passed on some data qualified as a state secret to certain agencies and individuals in China and received money for it. The most condensed version of this scenario (including the citations from the US media-resources) was presented in Azattyk’s publication of October 11, 2019, under the title «The Trump Card in the Leader of the Nation’s Hand. Experts on Syroyezhkin’s Sentencing».
Here is a relevant paragraph from the material (text in bold by kz.expert).
«American newspaper the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has disclosed several details of this mysterious case. In its article of July 10, they write that Syroyezhkin was arrested in his apartment by counter-intelligence officers as part of a special op. Citing an informed source, the newspaper writes that it was possible that Syroyezhkin was passing the documents on to the people connected to the Chinese intelligence and probably received money in exchange for it. The newspaper notes that the Chinese authorities characterize Syroyezhkin’s case as cooked up news.
The newspaper suggests that the criminal prosecution of Syroyezhkin testifies to Kazakhstan’s growing worries in regard to China’s influence and its rising feeling of vulnerability. The WSJ also notes that Syroyezhkin was President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev’s advisor on the Chinese matters at the time Tokayev served as the Prime Minister. According to the newspaper, Syroyezhkin was giving recommendations to Tokayev during the negotiation with the Chinese on the common border demarcation».
In our opinion, all this is quite possible considering the fact that Konstantin Syroyezhkin has already reached the retirement age and has probably been thinking about how to survive after he loses his salary at the Kazakh Institute of Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan especially if moves to Russia to live there permanently.
However, all the people who know Syroyezhkin personally, characterize him as an intelligent, educated, competent and cautious man. Apart from that, let us remind you that he graduated from the Higher School of the KGB, in other words, was a professional in this sphere.
In view of this, we allow for a possibility that Konstantin Syroyezhkin did indeed pass on the information beyond the Kazakh borders albeit not to the Chinese agencies (considering Akorda’s attitude to China, the Chinese foreign policy, the possible actions and reactions) but to… Russia.
With that, we are not at all certain that the Russian state agencies such as the Russian Foreign Intelligence or the Federal Security Service were the receivers of this sensitive information. It is likely that the Kazakh sinologist was in contact with some kind of private or non-governmental structures that were carrying out state orders or working independently and had the necessary material capabilities.
If that is so, that the human logic in such a collaboration does exist (not with the Chinese but with the Russian colleagues): first, the money is good, second, it comes from a country that is friendly to Kazakhstan, moreover, unified with it by a single military, political, economic and cultural space, third, it has good prospects if Syroyezhkin moves to Russia permanently.
By the way, it is possible that it was this circumstance that became the main reason for such a severe classifying of Konstantin Syroyezhkin’s case. For it is one thing to imprison an alleged Chinese «spy», another — Vladimir Putin’s «special-service agent».
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan has already encountered a similar precedent. We are talking about the high-profile case of Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Baglan Maylybayev who, by the way, according to the information we have at our disposal, has already left the penal colony where he was serving his sentence.
As for the answers to the questions with what foreign agency Konstantin Syroyezhkin collaborated (was in contact with) and how sensitive the information he passed on (could have passed on) was, we are not going to «speculate» about it. In our opinion, in order to make a qualified statement, it is not enough to have access to the trial materials, one must also know the undercurrents of the events connected with this case.
Suspicions have been expressed in the press and on the social media that the arrest and conviction of Syroyezhkin are somehow connected with the fact that he was once Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev’s advisor. We believe this is false trail. Perhaps it’s all about some kind of unofficial relationships.
For instance, of the NSC Chief Karim Masimov. Or of some other important Akorda’s citizen with some of their foreign colleagues. For some reason unknown to the general public, they have been decided to be given a flick on the nose or warned that they have gone too far in the wrong direction.
