The commander of the 8th company of the patrol police regiment in Shymkent, Azamat Aimbetov, has been sentenced to seven years for receiving a large bribe through extortion.
According to some media outlets, in December last year, Aimbetov's patrol crew stopped a car. The woman behind the wheel was driving without insurance, and the vehicle itself was registered to the passenger sitting next to her.
However, the police officers decided not to draw up an administrative report, but for no apparent reason, they took the driver for a medical examination. During this, it was found that the driver's blood contained a small amount of alcohol.
According to the judge, Mr Aimbetov forced the woman to give blood, had the car impounded, and threatened her with an administrative penalty of 15 days' arrest, which the court regarded as extortion.
The third figure in the case – a civilian who passed the bribe – tried to mislead the investigation by denying any acquaintance with Mr Aimbetov.
The convicted policeman's lawyer intends to appeal the court's verdict. On his social media page, the lawyer repeatedly wrote that Azamat Aimbetov had demonstratively refused bribes several times and had supposedly gained a reputation as "the most honest policeman in Shymkent".
Apparently, to be called "the most honest" these days, you don't need to make much effort; it's enough to simply do your job within the law. Though even in this case, judging by the court's verdict, they got the title wrong.
The shortage of honest police officers has indeed been evident for years, but one shouldn't think they don't exist at all.
The former head of the Shymkent Police Department regiment, Daniyar Meirkhan, is known in the city as a man truly dedicated to his service. Although, it must be said, his reputation has also been called into question, but no evidence could be found to support the many accusations.
In September last year, Daniyar Meirkhan was removed from his post due to corruption by subordinates: a patrol police regiment inspector had accepted a bribe of 70,000 tenge.
Later, Mr Meirkhan published a report, written by him back in July, in which he flagged potential corruption risks, and showed journalists a letter previously sent to his superiors, proposing measures to eradicate corruption in the Shymkent police force.
Some suggestions were made that Mr Meirkhan's dismissal looked more like a settling of scores. After all, incorruptibility and dedication to duty don't always win the favour of colleagues; quite the opposite, in fact.
After Mr Meirkhan's dismissal, the personal data of his entire family, including passport details, residential address, personal photographs, etc., was leaked online.
For three days, the information was available on the Telegram channel of the lawyer of the now familiar Azamat Aimbetov.
The pre-trial investigation into Mr Aimbetov, recently convicted for bribery, began last year. However, as we can see today, Aimbetov kept his position at the time.
Incidentally, the title of "the most honest policeman", which Aimbetov's lawyer insists on, originally belonged to Daniyar Meirkhan.