A verdict has been handed down in Almaty in the murder case of customs control department employee Medet Zhamashev.
According to the Telegram channel “Elmedia”, among the accused were members of the team of former Prosecutor General Kairat Kozhamzharov – Talgat Makhatov and four accomplices.
“This morning, Judge Bakirbaev of the Specialised Inter-District Criminal Court (SMUS) of Almaty delivered the verdict in the case of the contract killing of customs officer Medet Zhamashev. Talgat Makhatov was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment in a medium-security facility. The other four defendants, who were the perpetrators of the crime, received sentences ranging from 13 to 14 years,” the statement reads.
In addition, the court ordered the defendants to pay 2 million tenge each as compensation for moral damages.
Previously, ORDA reported that, besides Makhatov, Yerzhan Kassymbayev, Aibek Utepov, and the brothers Zhasulan and Ernar Kemebayev were suspected of involvement in the murder of Zhamashev.
As it became known, Medet Zhamashev was killed in early 2012. The crime remained unsolved for 5 years, after which the head of the city prosecutor’s office, Viktor Tikhonov, took over the case.
“We worked through five versions of Zhamashev’s murder until we settled on the main one: that the crime was committed to cover up another offence. According to our information, all threads led back to the ‘Khorgos case’,” Tikhonov said.
It is reported that in the summer of 2017, he tracked down the five suspects mentioned above, but later the criminal case was transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where it was closed. At that time, investigators found no direct evidence linking the suspects to the murder. Incidentally, this happened after the head of the financial police, Kozhamzharov, was appointed Prosecutor General of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
That same year, Tikhonov himself became a defendant in a corruption case. He was sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment for allegedly unlawfully releasing two suspects from criminal liability in another case. In 2022, Tikhonov was acquitted, and the state paid him 32 million tenge as compensation for property and moral damages.
Journalists write that the investigation into the murder of customs officer Medet Zhamashev began after Talgat Makhatov was detained in connection with the January events.
“The investigative-operative group of the General Prosecutor’s Office was identifying all those involved in organising the mass riots in Almaty. Information emerged that Sanich was allegedly supplying weapons to the group of Diky Arman. He was detained and placed in a pre-trial detention centre, and soon was also suspected of committing a fraudulent transaction worth eight million dollars. Prosecutors were investigating both episodes when information about the 2012 murder of customs officer Zhamashev surfaced. Thus, a third episode was added to Makhatov’s case,” the statement reads.