The case of Makhambet Abzhan
Makhambet Abzhan is a Kazakh journalist who is renowned for exposing corruption between high-ranking officials and businessmen, publishing on his Telegram channel Abzhan News.
In July 2022, Abzhan was arrested in a "special operation" carried out by the Anti-Corruption Service. His dramatic arrest by masked officers outside the Astana Tower portrayed him as a dangerous criminal.
Abzhan was accused of extortion by threatening to publish compromising information about famous businessmen. In addition, he was charged with disseminating knowingly false information.
Rashit Makhat, who has a significant stake in Genesis Digital Assets, the world's largest cryptocurrency mining company, has accused Abzhan of demanding money to suppress false information about him.
In his articles, Abzhan connected Rashit Makhat with influential businessman and public figure Kairat Satybaldy, the nephew of former President Nazarbayev.
Abzhan denies extortion or threats in his publications, claiming that the persecution is a planned attempt by the authorities to silence him.
His publications linking influential representatives of the new Kazakh regime, who own energy facilities in East Kazakhstan, to the GDA and Rashit Makhat, raised questions about the true motives for Abzhan's arrest.
Yermek Alimov has also been drawn into the case. Abzhan was accused of conspiring with Alimov to spread false information about Makhat. Alimov's alleged motive was to put pressure on Makhat through the media in connection with a financial dispute over Altyn Olzha.Ken LLP (a gold mine in Kazakhstan), which Alimov and his partners own jointly with Kairat Satybaldy. The latter is currently represented in the project by Rashit Makhat. This led to the initiation of a separate criminal case against Alimov and created serious problems for him in Kazakhstan, damaging his business reputation and preventing him from returning to Kazakhstan.
Yermek Alimov asserts that he had no personal or business relationship with the journalist. They first communicated via WhatsApp on June 3, 2022, when Alimov was forced to contact him to refute false information about himself in an article published that day on the Abzhan News Telegram channel. In it, he was accused of allegedly abusing his official powers as the head of the capital's energy sector. In the process of correspondence between them, he proved his innocence to the journalist.
Alimov's disclosure to the journalist of information about energy and crypto-mining facilities in Karaganda and Ust-Kamenogorsk was dictated solely by preparation for the trial against MMK. This had nothing to do with the financial dispute over Altyn Olzha.Ken LLP, as the investigation suggests, and was not aimed at obtaining money from Makhat as imaginary compensation.
In February 2023, Abzhan was sentenced behind closed doors to 9 years in prison.
Alimov believes that the actions taken against him by Rashit Makhat and the Kazakh authorities are unfair and demands that the sentence against him be overturned. He also considers the sentence against Makhambet Abzhan to be excessively harsh.