KAZAKHSTAN'S HIGHEST COURT UPHOLDS GUILTY VERDICTS IN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN'S MURDER CASE

Kazakhstan's highest court upheld the conviction of 10 men of involvement in the killing of an opposition politician, turning down appeals from the victim's and defendants' representatives, who demanded further investigation.
Opposition groups and relatives said the February killing of Altynbek Sarsenbayev of the opposition Nagyz Ak Zhol party was politically motivated and accused authorities of shielding the real perpetrators.
Sarsenbayev and his driver and bodyguard were abducted in the commercial capital, Almaty, and their bullet-riddled bodies were later found dumped in the mountains. The killing of other prominent critics of long-ruling President Nursultan Nazarbayev occurred three months earlier.
The Almaty regional court ruled in August that the murder was ordered by Senate Administration Chief Erzhan Utembayev out of personal enmity after Sarsenbayev made a critical remark about him in an interview.
The court sentenced Rustam Ibragimov to death, finding him guilty of carrying out the actual murders. Ibragimov, a former police officer, had said he and the other nine defendants were set up.
Utembayev, who had maintained his innocence throughout the trial, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Petr Svoik, a senior member of the opposition alliance For a Fair Kazakhstan, said that the appeals hearings were rushed and that lawyers were not given a chance to present their arguments.
"We had no real hope that the sentences would be overruled and there would be a new investigation — it would be too dangerous for certain people. But we hoped at least some legal procedures would be followed," he said.