On January 27, another high-profile trial related to the January 2022 events concluded in Almaty. More than 40 individuals were in the dock, but the main figures in the proceedings were three individuals: former Almaty city council deputy and popular blogger Kairat Kudaibergen, former head of the Fifth Department of Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee Ruslan Iskakov, and crime boss Arman Jumageldiev, better known by his criminal nickname, ‘Wild Arman.’

Harsh Sentences

Most of the defendants received short sentences and were released due to time already served. However, for the main figures in the case, the court handed down the following punishments:

• Kairat Kudaibergen, former deputy and entrepreneur, received eight years in prison. He was also banned from appearing on social media, organizing rallies, debates, and events, and publishing in the media.
• Ruslan Iskakov, the former head of the Fifth Department of the National Security Committee, was sentenced to 15 and a half years in prison.
• Arman Jumageldiev (Wild Arman) was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was prohibited from participating in organizations, organizing events, and publishing in the media or on social networks.

In addition to this trio, two other lengthy sentences were handed down: former financial police agent Talgat Makhatov received 15 years, whilst journalist Berdakh Berdymuratov was sentenced to seven years.

During the trial, two of the four charges initially brought against Kairat Kudaibergen were dropped. Meanwhile, Arman Jumageldiev, who was originally charged under eleven articles of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan, faced eight charges by the end of the trial. The 40-year-old crime boss, who along with his defense team has long denied his ties to organized crime, will be released close to the age of retirement should his sentence remain unchanged after his appeal.

Under Surveillance

Senior Prosecutor of the Almaty Regional Transport Prosecutor’s Office, Mukhit Rysbekov, provided detailed comments on the verdict for Wild Arman (Arman Jumageldiev), revealing the defense’s strategy during the trial.

“The court deliberated on the case for about a year. During this time, Jumageldiev’s defenders tried to present him to the court and the public as a patriot, a national hero who helped and protected citizens during the tragic January events. Despite the active campaign organized by Jumageldiev and his defense to rehabilitate his image, we managed to prove the opposite. We proved that back in 2016, long before those events, Jumageldiev led a criminal organization, an armed gang, which included the same representatives of the criminal world,” said Rysbekov.

Commenting on Jumageldiev’s sentencing, political analyst Daniyar Ashimbaev noted that the trial had addressed one of the key facets in a broader scheme.

“It is clear that the National Security Committee (KNB) was ‘tracking’ this organized criminal group (OCG), which during the January events was supposed to take on the role of establishing ‘public governance,’ subduing looters, presenting 20 pre-captured individuals as instigators, and ultimately calling for power to be handed over to a ‘people’s government’ led by the coup organizers,” Ashimbaev stated. “This was evident as early as the spring of 2022 in the immediate aftermath.”

This, Ashimbaev believes, explains why the trial of Jumageldiev and other figures involved in the Almaty riots was so protracted. It was first necessary to prove the intent for a coup d’état and the existence of a sprawling conspiracy involving both law enforcement officials and criminal elements.

It is no secret that Kazakhstan’s intelligence services have, at times, utilized criminal networks to their advantage. Jumageldiev’s biography serves as a vivid illustration of this practice.

The Path to “Success”

The wider public in Kazakhstan first learned about the figure of Wild Arman (Jumageldiev) in 2005. At the time, the country was preparing for presidential elections. The opposition had united under the coalition, “For a Just Kazakhstan,” promoting their candidate, Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, a former speaker of the lower house of parliament who had recently left President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s party amidst a scandal.

An event in Shymkent meant to facilitate a meeting between Tuyakbai and his supporters with local residents was disrupted by hooligans, led by none other than Wild Arman. The group stormed the venue, ransacked the place, and drove the politicians under the tables. Opposition figures claimed at the time that the raid was coordinated by so-called “plainclothes men,” alleged to be undercover officers from the local KNB.

Three years later, in 2008, Wild Arman became embroiled in a conflict in Shymkent with the local “beer king” Tokhtar Tuleshov. Notably, in 2016, Tuleshov was accused of attempting a coup d’état allegedly linked to mass land protests that swept the country.

During the 2008 incident, a shootout occurred in which Jumageldiev was wounded, and two of his bodyguards were killed. Wild Arman fled to Kyrgyzstan. Shortly thereafter, in Shymkent, the suspected assailants in the attack were shot dead. Later, Jumageldiev was arrested in Almaty and served a three-year prison sentence.

Incidentally, during his time in Kyrgyzstan, he married a local model, Aikol Alikzhanova, and in 2021, the couple welcomed a daughter.

Another high-profile appearance in the media by Arman Jumageldiev came in 2019. Reports in Russian outlets claimed that Arman, who had joined the inner circle of Azerbaijani “thief-in-law” Nadir Salifov (known as Lotu Guli), had assaulted Georgian crime lord Guram Chikhladze (Kvezhovich). According to the unwritten rules of the post-Soviet criminal underworld governed by “thieves-in-law,” Wild Arman had no right to lay a hand on Kvezhovich,  as Arman was considered a minor figure. However, according to Lotu Guli, Kvezhovich was so frightened that he fled the meeting. This incident occurred in Turkey, where Arman was hiding from the Kazakh authorities.

In Turkey, Jumageldiev began rebranding his image, presenting himself as a respectable blogger and a patriot. In one instance, Arman urged his compatriots to confront British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for “insulting Kazakhs” in the Borat film series. He also interrogated the organizer of a financial pyramid scheme that had defrauded 17,000 Kazakh citizens. During the pandemic, he organized the free distribution of medicines and medical masks.

It was clear that even then, Wild Arman was laying the groundwork for the January events of 2022. Notably, 2019 was the year Nursultan Nazarbayev transferred presidential powers to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a transition that likely did not sit well with certain figures in Nazarbayev’s circle. It appears that the plan for a coup began taking shape at that time, with Arman Jumageldiev positioning himself as a “protector of the people.”

In handing down its sentence, on January 27 the court in Almaty put a period to this protracted story; at least for now.