Hearings on Zhanbolat Mamay’s case will be continued on 18 August

Zhanbolat Mamay’s supoorters and observers won the conflict over their presence in the courtroom. The court session was declared open. The hearing lasted for less than an hour. The judge satisfied the defence’s motion for open court sessions, but refused to vary the preventive measure.

The next court session is scheduled for 18 August at the same Medeu district court #2 in Almaty.

The editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Sayasi Kalam. Tribuna" Zhanbolat Mamay was detained by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau officers on February 10 within the frameworks of the investigation of the embezzlement of BTA Bank Mukhtar Ablyazov. The press release distributed by the Anti-Corruption Service on the same day, said: "During the investigation, a new Ablyazov accomplice in Kazakhstan, Mamay Zhanbolat Mamayuly, was found out. He laundered some of the money stolen at BTA Bank under the guise of conducting legal financial transactions through the newspaper “Sayasi Kalam: Tribuna”.

Zhanbolat Mamay categorically denies all charges. In his public statement, he calls the criminal prosecution politically motivated: "I, Zhanbolat Mamay, I do not plead myself guilty to charges brought against me. I have never carried out any business or financial activity. I consider this criminal proceeding to be politically motivated pressure brought upon my journalistic activity and attempt to close newspaper “Tribuna”. The journalist has been under arrest with the sanction of the court since February 11.