Syria uprise 'supporters' from Atyrau to serve 18-23 years in jail

By Zulfiya Bainekeyeva

June 5, Specialized Court of Atyrau for Criminal Cases issued verdicts to 8 people accused in crimes against public order and safety.

Almost all of them will serve terms from 18 to 23 years.

It was a closed trial, therefore, the case details were officially announced after the verdict.

All convicts were apprehended for involvement in the murder of 56-year-old Dossymbayev, an owner of a private bath-house, on the night of November 30, 2012.

Over the course of investigation, it was revealed that some Amanzholov, then wanted, was the actual organizer of the gang and the crime.

With no criminal records before, aged 20-38, the suspects told investigators their initial plan was to just rob the man.

To begin with, the gang watched three potential targets until Dossymbayev was selected, as Amanzholov was sure he possessed large sums of money. 

At questioning, suspects testified that they needed money to join "brothers-in-faith" in Syria and contribute to Jihad.

They even had a route developed - via Russia to Turkey and then to Syria, where their ideological inspirer - someone named Sultanov - also wanted by Kazakhstan police, was awaiting them.

The plan failed - Dossymbayev showed fierce resistance and even managed to snatch off a mask from one of the attackers.

He was then thrown into his own car and taken to a river outside of the city, where he was badly beaten.

Amanzholov himself, suspects say, twice shot him from a two-barrel gun - in chest and head.

Ultimately, murderers gained no money, despite that police had later found 200.000 tenge [about $1.320] in the back pocket of the victim.

However, at the trial convicts said that amount of money would not be enough to help them proceed their plan.

The body was found the following day. Detectives picked up the trail right away.

The criminals went on the run, one was caught on his way to Russia, the others in Aktobe and Uralsk, but the crime boss Amanzholov disappeared.

One of the convicted was released in the court room. He was accused of failure to report crime for which he received a one year suspended sentence.