Former prime minister of Kazakhstan, arrested during last year’s uprising, sentenced to 18 years in prison

A court in Astana sentenced Karim Massimov, former prime minister and head of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan to 18 years in prison, reports Interfax. Massimov was arrested during mass civil unrest in Kazakhstan in January 2022.

Massimov was charged with treason, violent seizure of power, and abuse of office. The court also ordered that Massimov’s property be confiscated and that Massimov be banned for life from holding public office. The case was classified as top secret.

The court also sentenced two of Massimov’s deputies on the National Security Committee, Anwar Sadykulov and Dawlet Ergozhin, to 16 and 15 years, respectively. A third deputy, Marat Osipov, received a three-year sentence for abuses of power and official authority.

All four were also stripped of their ranks as generals and their state awards. The state took over 10 billion tenge ($24 million) in funds from the four defendants.