In the previous articles on the subject of repressions, we showed how a political will of the highest Kazakh administration, coupled with present-day realities, turns lawful legal persecution into an instrument of reprisal against power opponents. It doesn’t matter whether the opponents are political or personal in nature.

Among these facts of life, it is worth noting the superfluity of ruling elite in its numbers, its deep-rooted habit to gain at the expense of government and its non-ending nepotism and complete amorality. Because of this last problem, some high-ranking officials and top-managers of quasi-governmental organizations get long prison sentences, while others get away with fines.

The decision of whether the accusation of organizing a crime group will be “hanged” on to cases and whether relatives and closed ones of accused will be made accountable, will depend not so much on law enforcement officials, as it will on the people who control them and make final decisions; this makes it harder for accused to get an early release or a parole.

It is no surprise then, that because of such a high cost in all high-profile cases, the fate of the accused is decided not as much in the investigator’s office, as in many other places. In proving our thesis, we will give you two examples.

The first example has to do with such a famous figure as a former deputy head of the presidential administration Baglan Mailybaev. We remind our readers, that he and his aide N. Galikhin are being accused of committing a crime, covered by parts 1 and 3 of article 185 of the criminal code of KR, i.e. unlawful collection, distribution and divulging of government secrets.

We have already written that according to information acquired by us, Mailybaev not only fully admitted his guilt in the mentioned crime, but also admitted to embezzling funds through government contracts for various ideological services, including through the Korkem Film company. However, it doesn’t mean that the former deputy head of presidential cabinet will get a long sentence. If only, because he has people behind him.

Mailybaev had a patron in Akorda in the form of Mukhtar Kul-Muhamed, who currently holds the position of Nazarbaev’s head assistant in the Nur Otan party. And if Mailybaev ends up in prison for a long time it might end up being a problem for Kul-Muhamed.

By the way, it is those two that are considered to have been behind the informational attacks on the current minister of culture and sport Arystanbek Mehamediuly and on former education and minister and party organizer Bakhytjan Jumagulov. The latter, as a result of intrigues, was forced to resign on the basis of his assistant being apprehended for corruption. The case eventually came to a halt, but he ended up at the curb of political life and his seat, ironically, went to Mailybaev’s patron, Kulmuhamed.

However, the problem doesn’t end there – Mailybaev is also considered the main culprit in the case of land code protesters Maks Bokaev and Talgat Aian, going to jail. Moreover, Marat Tajin became another victim of his cabinet intrigues, being fired from his position as a state secretary.

And today Mailybaev is being accused of gathering and divulging state secrets, and Tajin is tasked with fixing the situation in the domestic policy field.

As a result, it is not as much Mailybaev’s own fate that is being decided now, but rather a question of whether he will drag his allies and patrons with him, and who will take the seats in the government apparatus and semi-governmental structures, that were earlier under his patronage. The case goes all the way to the top, and thus the decision will be a political rather than legal one.

Another example we want to cite is from the realm of business. Former chairman of the board of AO Araltuz Ablai Gabjalilov was arrested in early February of 2017, after being wanted earlier.

Gabjailov is accused of tax evasion for the years of 2011-2012. The economic crimes unit of the department of state profits handles his criminal case. This entrepreneur can’t be called a famous or large scale businessman, even though he is being accused of evading 2 billion tenges in taxes. Based on insider information, Ablai Gabjalilov’s problems were a result of long-standing conflict with business partners, who “sold” him out in the end.

The media, public and advocacy groups likely won’t take interest in this case, due to its unknown status. However, in this particular case we will be able to know for sure who was the opponent of the former chairman of AO Araltuz. Because, his share in that business will eventually go to someone else, along with his position in the Kazakh retail coal market. Then we will know who “sold” Gabjalilov out, the principleof looking for whoever benefits, works every time. All other repressions in Kazakhstan clearly fall into the range between the cases of Mailybaev and Gabjailov, i.e. either a political hit or a taking down of particular people; thus political elite uses their powers to achieve their private goals.