Dismal fate of Kazakhstan’s former prime minister

The verdict in one of the most high-profile cases of recent years was reached last week. One of the most famous representatives of the local political elite, former Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov, was in the dock. The final decision of the inter-district criminal court of the Karaganda Region surprised many experts, rather than the fact of the prosecution against the "man of the inner circle." And the result was 10 years of imprisonment in a penal colony with confiscation of property (the prosecutors demanded 12 years of imprisonment).

After coming to power, Serik Akhmetov established a reputation as a cautious bureaucrat with a focus on the implementation and solution of economic issues.

He tried to avoid active participation in public policy, and supported friends of Karaganda, so-called support with only maintenance of the norms of decency. However, being prime minister, Akhmetov didn’t have strong media or expert support. He preferred to solve difficult issues through mechanisms of hardware communication.

So the question is, what prompted such a strict final verdict according to the standards of Kazakhstan and Russia? After all, at first sight he was not involved, didn’t commit, wasn't personally involved. His qualities helped top officials to find a way out of complex situations more than once. It is no coincidence that Serik Akhmetov chose the absolutely right tone in his last word: "Your Honor, I want to appeal to our head of state, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, my teacher and mentor. I sincerely apologize to Nursultan Nazarbayev for what I’ve done. I didn’t justify his confidence. I understand that I am morally responsible for the current atmosphere in the Karaganda Region. Now the head of state has to think about it and worry."

The ex-akim of the Pavlodar Region, Yerlan Aryn, used a similar scheme that might alleviate his guilt. But even so, sincere recognition was not an indulgence for Serik Akhmetov.

Maybe it's all about the extraordinary gravity of the crimes committed in the Karaganda Region when Akhmetov was the head of the strategically important region?

By the way, a group of ''accomplices'' of the former prime minister has very prestigious names: former Governor of the Karaganda Region Baurzhan Abdishev, former akim of Karaganda Meyram Smagulov, heads of the public utilities, transport and highways of Karaganda city Akimat Aidos Zhakenov and Mukhtar Adambekov. They are charged with taking bribes, embezzlement and other crimes amounting to multimillion-dollar-sums. But again, it is not the first and, unfortunately, not the last case of bribery of officials. However, such openness, publicity and indicative impartiality of investigation and trial were not present in all cases.

A curious comment about the well-known Kazakh political was made by analyst Andrei Chebotarev, who remarked that "Such measures against people of such rank are taken in Kazakhstan only on the instructions, or with the consent of the head of state. It is possible that Akhmetov became the victim of personnel intrigues in which he didn’t succeed. Therefore, the real offense of Serik Akhmetov was more serious than the one that was incriminated by the court."

At the same time, there is a version that there is no conspiracy in this case. In the crisis situation the President of Kazakhstan is paying special attention to ''cleansing'' of the official corps and the fight against corruption. It is possible that the Akhmetov case should make officials of the highest level think over the consequences of the gray and black schemes.