The Karakiya District Court of Mangistau Region is considering a criminal case concerning smuggling against Iranian citizens Lotfi Mehdi Mohammad and Asadpour Ebrahim Gholamreza. The defence has raised the question of the legality of their continued detention after the previously established term of arrest had expired.
WHAT IS KNOWN
According to the Telegram channel "Kozachkov offside", on 14 June the investigative court selected a preventive measure of detention for a period of two months for both Iranian citizens.
According to the ruling, the term of detention was due to end on 12 August: for one defendant at 18:47, and for the other at 18:50.
WHAT THE JUDGE STATED WHEN TAKING ON THE CASE
On 2 July, Judge Zamira Makhitova accepted the criminal case for proceedings and scheduled the first court hearing for 21 July.
The document stated that a coercive measure in the form of a written undertaking to appear had been selected for the defendant. However, the case involves two defendants. The text of the ruling also contained the wording "izbrana", the spelling of which is reproduced as in the original source material.
WHY THE RULING WAS CHANGED AFTER THE TERM EXPIRED
On 13 August, a day after the stated term of detention expired, Judge Zamira Makhitova issued a new ruling. In it, she stated that she had made a clerical error in the document of 2 July, and that the preventive measure for the defendants should be considered detention.
However, the ruling of 13 August does not specify the term for which the defendants' detention is extended. The document also lacks the wording "left unchanged".
WHAT THE LAWYERS ARE REFERRING TO
The defence counsel appealed to institution No. 77 of the Committee of the Penal System (CPS), where the Iranian citizens are held. The institution reported that the preventive measure of detention has been left unchanged.
The lawyers also filed a complaint with the Mangistau Transport Prosecutor's Office, which supervises this criminal case. Another complaint was lodged with the Mangistau Regional Court. The defence is demanding that the ruling of 13 August be overturned and that Lotfi Mehdi Mohammad and Asadpour Ebrahim Gholamreza be released.
WHAT SIGNIFICANCE THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DECISION HOLDS
The publication cites Normative Ruling No. 73 of the Constitutional Court, issued in a similar situation. The Constitutional Court indicated that a person cannot be kept in detention without a court decision.
Also declared unconstitutional was part 5 of Article 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which allowed a court to extend the term of detention if it had already expired by that time.
It is precisely the presence or absence of a valid court decision on the term of continued detention that has become the key issue raised by the defence in its complaints.
