Kairat Kozhakhmetov

NAME	Kozhakhmetov Kairat
DOB	35 years old
Place of residence	Kazakhstan, Almaty
Location of Incident	Kazakhstan, Almaty
Citizenship	Kazakhstan
Applicant	Kozhakhmetov Kairat
Kinship	Self
Citizenship	Kazakhstan

The story of a 35-year-old father of two children from Almaty, Kairat Kozhakhmetov.

On January 5, 2022, 35-year-old Kairat Kozhakhmetov left the house to buy fever medication for the child. Walking down the street, he was injured and lost consciousness. People put him in a car and sent him to the hospital.

In the 12th city hospital, he was given first aid, a plaster cast was applied, but the operation was postponed. According to the discharge from the hospital, Kairat Kozhakhmetov received a gunshot wound to the right hip and an open fracture of the lower third of the right thigh with displacement.

On the evening of 8 January, an armed SWAT team broke into the hospital and began to brutally beat the wounded. Kairat’s cast was broken during the beatings. After that, the SWAT team began to withdraw the naked wounded and stuffed about 20 wounded people into an 8-seater gazelle.

All were taken to the SI-18 detention centre in Almaty, where the wounded, including Kairat Kozhakhmetov, were tortured and beaten. The wounded had to spend the night in a cold cell in SI-18 on the floor, without clothes. Adequate medical care was not provided. He was not allowed to contact his family.

Kairat was beaten with batons, called a “terrorist”. He was asked who he had beaten, what he had stolen and where his weapons were. Kairat replied that he had not been to the rally, had not beaten anyone, had not stolen anything and that he had no weapons. Officers beat him on his broken leg, back and head. To stop the torture and get adequate medical care, Kairat was forced to write a document that he had no complaints.

On January 14, a 2-minute trial was held in SI-18. The judge appointed 2 months of arrest during the investigation of the political criminal case under Article 272 part 2 (“participation in mass riots”), without any evidence and the ability to defend himself.

In SI-18, his health deteriorated sharply. He needed surgery. The doctors who came examined the wounds, took a photo and left.

On January 18, he was transferred to the 4th city hospital, where on January 24 he underwent surgery. Police officers stood outside the wards, and the wounded themselves were handcuffed to the bed after the operation. On January 27, he was placed under house arrest.