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Kazakhstan: A jury will soon decide the fate of an ex-minister accused of murder [1]
['China-Central Asia Monitor']
Date: 2024-05
A partner post from Mediazona Central Asia
One of the most sensational trials of the independence era is unfolding in Kazakhstan, in which a former government minister, Kuandyk Bishimbayev, stands accused of the brutal beating death of his wife, Saltanat Nukenova.
The case is nearing its conclusion. On May 2, prosecutors presented their summation of the case. The prosecution team asserted that Nukenova wasn’t just murdered, she was systematically abused. “Saltanat Nukenova developed a guilt complex, formed by Bishimbayev. This explains the indecisiveness in trying to break a toxic relationship,” said one prosecutor Aizhan Aimaganova.
The trial has riveted the attention of Kazakhs, raising awareness about the issue of domestic violence. An unusual aspect of the trial is that a jury is hearing the case. Mediazona Central Asia figured out how jury trials work in Kazakhstan and how the verdict will be determined.
A critical pillar buttressing most liberal democratic political systems, jury trials were a very un-Soviet practice. They were introduced in Kazakhstan only in 2007. Until 2009, jury trials were held only in cases where defendants faced the death penalty or life imprisonment. Starting in 2010, juries were empowered to hear a wider variety of cases involving serious crimes. The scope of jury-eligible cases was further expanded at the start of 2024. Juries are now empowered to help decide the fates of those charged under 44 categories of crimes. Even so, jury trials remain uncommon in the country.
Abdrashit Zhukenov, the chair of Kazakhstan’s Supreme Court’s Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases, reports that jury trials in Kazakhstan have a roughly 10 percent acquittal rate, adding that the acquittal rate for regular court proceedings is under 2 percent. Zhukenov added that the quality of the pre-trial investigation with the participation of a jury tends to be more thorough and the parties are more active in the proceedings themselves.
A jury trial can be held in Kazakhstan at the initiative of the criminal defense team. Differing from juries in the United States, a jury in Kazakhstan comprises 10 citizens and the presiding judge, along with two alternates. Lists of potential jurors between the ages of 25 and 65 are compiled by regional executive authorities.
Jury pools of up to 300 citizens are then summoned for service. Doctors, teachers, firefighters and other public servants are exempted from jury duty. Those who fail to answer a jury service summons are subject to civil penalties and fines.
When a jury trial is placed on the docket, 17 potential jurors are selected as potential candidates for service via an administrative process. Once the pool of potential jurors is narrowed to 17, lawyers for the defense and prosecution have a limited ability to challenge an individual’s qualifications to be empanelled. The presiding judge, although also a member of the jury, can question potential jurors about their suitability to serve.
Jurors during a trial are forbidden from discussing the case with anyone outside of the court without the permission of the judge. They are also not supposed to research the case on their own, or disclose information discussed during closed court sessions, or during jury deliberations.
The first part of a trial in Kazakhstan involves the presentation of material facts relating to the case; jurors hear evidence from the prosecution and the defense concerning the guilt or innocence of the defendant. During this phase, jurors have the right to pose questions via the presiding judge. Jurors do not participate in the second phase of a criminal case, in which circumstantial and contextual evidence surrounding the alleged crime is presented. Other matters, including sentencing guidelines and potential civil claims, are also discussed during the trial’s second phase.
Juries must go through a three-step process to reach a verdict on every charge faced by a defendant. In the deliberation room, jurors must answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a series of three questions. The jury does not have to be unanimous in its opinion: a simple majority of jurors determines the outcome of the questioning process.
The first question determines whether a crime occurred consistent with the charge against the defendant. In Bishimbayev’s case, this means the jury has to be convinced that the victim was murdered and did not die from another cause. The second question asks whether there is sufficient proof that a crime has been committed and the third question asks whether jurors think the proof shows that the defendant committed the crime. A ‘yes’ answer is required for all three questions for the jury to convict the defendant of a criminal charge. A ‘no’ answer to any step of the process renders a ‘not guilty’ verdict.
Sentencing of a convicted defendant is determined separately. During the sentencing phase, the presiding judge instructs the jury on the laws governing the case and the sentencing parameters. The sentencing decision is then made by an open vote of the jury in the deliberation room.
In the event Bishimbayev is convicted of murder, he can receive a life sentence only if the jury voting was unanimous to all three questions during deliberations, and the sentencing decision is likewise unanimous. The votes of eight or more jurors are needed to impose a 15-year sentence.
Presiding judges, given that they sit on a jury, can exert considerable influence over the outcomes of deliberations, especially since only a simple majority of jurors is required to convict or acquit, legal observers say.
That situation may not last much longer, however. In March, Kazakhstan’s lower house of parliament approved the first reading of a bill that aims to end a judge’s participation in a jury and institute all-citizen panels to hear cases. If the bill becomes law, an 11-person jury will decide verdicts without input from a judge.
Editor’s Note: This article was adapted from the original version published by Mediazona Central Asia.
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