Plans to seize power: Details of verdict of “Wild Arman“ and Kudaibergen

Tengrinews.kz - The specialized inter-district criminal court of Almaty explained the verdict against Arman Dzhumageldiev (Wild Arman), former head of the 5th department of the NSC (National Security Committee) Ruslan Iskakov and former deputy of the Almaty Maslikhat Kairat Kudaibergen.

The court established that in 2016, Iskakov, being the deputy head of the 5th department of the NSC, having promised patronage from the national security agencies in his person, persuaded Dzhumageldiev to cooperate.

"Dzhumageldiev, having secured the support of the NSC bodies, began to form a criminal organization in order to expand the spheres of criminal influence in the territory of Kazakhstan and beyond. For this purpose, previously familiar persons, distinguished by psychological stability, lack of fear of criminal prosecution and good physical fitness, were attracted to key roles in the criminal organization. All members of the Dzhumageldiev criminal association were divided into organizationally, functionally and territorially separate groups reporting directly to him," the court said.

It is noted that the NSC unit headed by Iskakov liquidated a number of organized crime groups competing with the Dzhumageldiev criminal organization. At the same time, Iskakov did not take any action to suppress the illegal activities of the Dzhumageldiev group.

Since December 2017, Dzhumageldiev controlled the activities of his criminal organization remotely, while in Turkey. He periodically held meetings with the heads of structural divisions and members of the organization in Kazakhstan, Turkey, and the UAE. The group systematically searched for potential victims to expand its sphere of influence and ensure financial receipts. For example, in early June 2021, members of the organization learned about the debt of one of the residents of the Turkestan region in the amount of 25 million tenge to his acquaintances. Dzhumageldiev's subordinates, having beaten the victim and threatened to throw him from the sixth floor of a hotel in the city of Shymkent, forced him to hand over 23 million tenge, 12 million of which were appropriated by the defendants.

"In early 2022, Iskakov, Dzhumageldiev, and former Maslikhat deputy Kudaibergen acted as key organizers of mass riots with the aim of violently seizing power. For this purpose, Dzhumageldiev arrived in Kazakhstan in advance in December 2021. During the January events, Kudaibergen organized a headquarters at the Kazakhstan Hotel, where he invited Dzhumageldiev's group and from where they directed the actions of the armed group and other people who joined them," the report says.

The court established that on January 5, 2022, Dzhumageldiev's gang and his supporters twice went to Republic Square in Almaty. Their goal was to unite the participants in the mass riots and create an unconstitutional body in the form of a "People's Council" to put forward demands to the current government.

"Subsequently, Dzhumageldiev decided to increase the number of participants in the mass riots. To do this, he called members of his gang from Shymkent to Almaty for their further participation in the exit to the square. It has also been reliably established that Kudaibergen illegally organized a gathering of people from among athletes and other persons near the Kazakhstan Hotel under the guise of assisting in the protection of business facilities, with the subsequent goal of uniting with Dzhumageldiev's criminal group.

After the detention of the NSC leadership on the night of January 5-6, 2022, Iskakov, realizing the inevitable failure of the plan to organize mass riots, decided to hide the traces of the crime. Under the pretext of stabilizing the situation in Almaty, he gave instructions to Dzhumageldiev to kidnap people and hold them in the Kazakhstan and The Ritz Carlton Almaty hotels," the court said.

Thus, according to the investigation, from January 6 to 7, 2022, under the guise of fighting looters and rioters, members of the Dzhumageldiev gang illegally detained civilians. The detainees were subjected to brutal beatings, searches, humiliation and interrogation. In addition, some of them were forced to confess to thefts and participation in the extremist activities of DCK (Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan) under video recording.

"For example, near the Ritz Carlton Almaty hotel, about 15 members of Dzhumageldiev's criminal group, carrying out his instructions, stopped a passing car and forced five citizens out of it. The attackers hit one of the passengers on the head with a hammer, causing him to lose consciousness. After that, the victims were forcibly taken to the hotel's underground parking lot against their will, where their money and personal property were taken from them. Then the victims were stripped to their underwear and beaten. At the same time, they were forced to confess to participating in mass riots and stealing other people's property," the report says.

In total, the gang members kidnapped and beat up 34 victims. Subsequently, 24 of the detained persons were illegally held in the warehouse premises of one of the LLPs.

In addition, under the guise of restoring order in Almaty and creating a reliable alibi, the gang

Dzhumageldiev and his supporters returned the fire truck of the Almaty Department of Emergency Situations and organized the protection of the 12th city hospital, and also initiated the distribution of food products to residents of Almaty.

"It has been reliably established that Dzhumageldiev imitated the fight against the rioters and all his actions were aimed at concealing the traces of the crimes that he organized. The said criminal actions of the defendants in the case are confirmed by stable testimony of witnesses, examinations, video evidence examined in court," the court noted.

The court sentenced Wild Arman to 20 years in prison. Ruslan Iskakov was sentenced to 15.6 years in prison, and Kairat Kudaibergen received 8 years in prison. Other participants in the mass riots - members of Dzhumageldiev's gang (13 people in total) - were sentenced to 10 to 15.5 years in prison.

Other participants in the mass riots who were not part of the gang were sentenced to 1.5 to 7 years in prison. A motion to deprive a number of convicts of state awards will be filed.

The sentence has not entered into legal force.