She was taken into custody in the courtroom and will be sent to a medium-security correctional facility.
The court found the woman guilty of committing a criminal offense under part 4, p.2 of article 194 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
"To impose a punishment of 3 years of imprisonment to be served in a medium-security colony," - read out the verdict Judge Nurlan Aitbaev of the specialized interdistrict court for criminal cases.
The judge explained that the punishment for the defendant was set below the lower limit. The jury took into account that the woman had recently lost a disabled child.
In November 2023, the deputy akim of the Pavlodar region, Serik Batyrguzhinov, wrote a statement about the resident of Pavlodar. He informed the court that in April 2023, an unemployed widow born in 1985, who was in line for housing under the category of "families with children with disabilities," had met him on social media. He delved into her problem and decided to help.
According to him, the official and the new acquaintance stayed in touch. From May to September 2023, he provided her with financial assistance ranging from 50 to 160 thousand tenge.
In September 2023, the woman asked Serik Batyrguzhinov to give her $10,000 under the threat of disclosing information about their relationship and an alleged rape in the deputy akim's office. A month later, she demanded 20 million tenge, after which he went to the police.
The prosecutor in the case, Azamat Garifulla, considered the defendant's guilt proven and requested a punishment of seven years of imprisonment, as prescribed by the lower limit of the sanction for extortion, which involves demanding the transfer of someone else's property under the threat of disclosing information that could harm the victim or their relatives, committed on an especially large scale. The maximum penalty for the crime is 15 years.
The convicted woman told the court that it was not extortion but a demand for what was promised after the "rape incident in the office." The judicial hearing on the sensitive case began on April 22.
It was revealed that by the court's ruling, the woman's second child will be placed under the care of a relative. The verdict has not yet entered into legal force.
