(12 February 2026 | Source: Zakon.kz)
The former rector of the International University of Information Technology (IUIT) Damir Shynybekov has been released after a recalculation of his sentence. The Committee of the Criminal Enforcement System (CCES) emphasised that amnesty had been applied to him. Taking into account the reduced sentence, he has fully served his time.
Shynybekov held the post of rector of IUIT from 2009. He was arrested in May 2019.
HOW THE CASE UNFOLDED
According to Zakon.kz, the sentence for Damir Shynybekov and the former chief accountant of IUIT, Zhanaiym Spabekova, was handed down on 5 October 2020 in Almaty. The court established that between February 2013 and November 2018, they embezzled university funds totalling more than 1.7 billion tenge through fictitious contracts with legal entities and subsequent cash withdrawal.
They were suspected under Part 4 of Article 189 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (“Appropriation or embezzlement of entrusted another’s property on an especially large scale”). Both were found guilty and sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment with confiscation of property. In addition, they were banned from holding managerial and financially responsible positions in the field of education and science for a period of 5 years.
REASON FOR RELEASE
The press service of the CCES explained that amnesty had been applied to Shynybekov, which allowed for the recalculation of his sentence.
“Taking into account the recalculated sentence, the convicted person has fully served the punishment imposed by the court and was released on legal grounds,” the committee noted.