Ex-NSC head Karim Massimov, convicted of treason, seeks presidential pardon
The former head of the National Security Committee (NSC), Karim Massimov, has requested a pardon from the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
“Indeed, from this institution in March 2024, he sent a petition to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan asking for a pardon,” the NSC reported to Informburo.kz.
The pre-trial investigation against Massimov continues under Article 218, Part 3, Point 3 (Legalization (laundering) of money and other property acquired by criminal means) and Article 366, Part 4 (Receiving a bribe in a particularly large size) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
He is currently in the NSC's detention center in Astana.
On April 24, 2023, the Astana court announced a guilty verdict for the former NSC head, Karim Massimov, who was sentenced to 18 years under Part 1 of Article 175 (state treason), Part 3 of Article 179 (violent seizure of power), and Point 3 of Part 4 of Article 362 (abuse of power and official authority) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. His former deputies Anvar Sadykulov, Daulet Ergozhin, and Marat Osipov were sentenced to 16, 15, and three years, respectively.
At the beginning of January 2022, the NSC reported that they had detained the former head of the committee. The criminal case against him was classified as “top secret.” Massimov was pinpointed as the primary orchestrator of the events in January in Kazakhstan, which led to the deaths of 238 civil citizens.
