Hostage taking at the airport: high-profile case trial begins in Almaty

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Tengrinews.kz - On April 7, the trial of a man who took an airport employee hostage in early March has began.

Retired Mashrapbek Baratov is in the dock.

During the hearing, the prosecutor of the transport military prosecutor's office asked to hold the court hearings in an abbreviated manner, since the defendant did not challenge the evidence collected in the case. Then the prosecutor read out the details of the case.

The defendant agreed with all the charges and admitted his guilt.

Then the victim, an employee of the airport security service, testified in court. Recalling the events of that day, the victim burst into tears while giving testimony.

Recall that a criminal case was opened against the accused for knowingly making a false report of a terrorist attack (Article 273 of the Criminal Code). He is also accused of hostage taking, for which he faces 7 to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. In addition, he is accused of hooliganism with the use of weapons - under this article, the punishment is 3 to 7 years of imprisonment.

On March 7, Kazakhstanis were shocked by the news - a man armed with a kitchen knife took a female employee of the Almaty airport hostage.

According to airport officials, at approximately 11:45 AM, the suspect entered the domestic terminal (T1) disguised as a passenger. When aviation security personnel asked him to present his documents, he grabbed a female security officer by the hair and threatened her with a knife.

After 7 minutes, he was neutralized and detained. This was possible thanks to a brave man. It turned out to be Musa Abdraim - he offered himself instead of the hostage. Seizing the moment, Abdraim snatched the knife from the attacker. After that, the police managed to detain him.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was informed about the situation with the hostage taking at the Almaty airport. On the same day, by decree of the Head of State, hero was awarded a medal for courage and dedication shown in an extreme situation.