The trial in the case of KazTAG and Freedom Finance continued on July 7 at the Almaly District Court in Almaty. During the hearing, witness Serik Yasin gave testimony about an incident involving KazTAG General Director Aset Matayev and Malim Media founder Valikhan Ramazanov, detailing the circumstances of the night conflict and confirming the defendants' intoxicated state. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

According to the witness, the conflict began around 1 a.m. after he left a cinema with two girls. Their acquaintance Arlan Ayimbetov drove up to the group. Yasin said the defendants, who were intoxicated, initiated the aggression.

"Yes, we saw alcohol intoxication. It was clear from their speech that they were drunk; they cursed at anyone. There was a smell of alcohol coming from them," the witness stated in court.

He added that the opposing side provoked the conflict.

"It all started when Matayev and Ramazanov began cursing at Arlan," he said.

The verbal altercation escalated into a physical confrontation. The witness described the chronology of the attack on the driver in detail.

"Aset suddenly hit Arlan. Matayev first tried to strike Arlan but missed. Arlan fell, got up, and started swinging a key," the witness said.

Trying to protect his acquaintance from the beating, Serik Yasin also used physical force. "Aset wanted to hit Arlan, so I hit Aset on the thigh," he explained. The girls present at the scene also intervened in the scuffle. As the witness noted: "The girls started defending Arlan and began hitting the men with their fists because they wanted to hit Arlan."

According to Yasin, Ramazanov did not inflict bodily harm but damaged the car.

"Damage to the car on the driver's side. They hit the window, but nothing happened. The damage was done by Valikhan," he said.

Summarizing his emotional state during the group attack, Serik Yasin emphasized: "Honestly, when I was in the car, the girls and I were scared."

The trial is ongoing at the Almaly District Court in Almaty. The defendants are charged under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan with hooliganism (gross violation of public order, expressing clear disrespect for society, committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy). Earlier, on June 30, 2026, another witness was interrogated in this trial. He also testified about the use of physical force by Aset Matayev and detailed the blow he received.

In addition to hooliganism, the case includes other charges—spreading knowingly false information and negligent attitude to duties. Recall that in spring 2025, the KazTAG agency launched an information attack against the brokerage company Freedom Finance and its founder Timur Turlov. The publication issued over 250 articles accusing the company of fraud, money laundering to offshore accounts, and creating a pyramid scheme. The articles were prompted by complaints from investor Zhanna Kaparova about losing money due to the actions of former broker employee Temirlan Bekov. However, the Department of Economic Investigations completely dropped the case against Bekov: the investigation found that the client voluntarily gave him passwords to her account, confirmed transactions with SMS codes, and agreed to pay 20% of profits, grossly violating company regulations. Representatives of Freedom Finance regarded these publications as blackmail after refusing a dubious "out-of-court settlement," and in February 2026 won a civil court ruling that declared the KazTAG materials false and ordered a retraction.

In December 2025, the publication's management—Aset Matayev and Amir Kasenov—were named suspects in a criminal case of spreading knowingly false information. The main trial began on June 15, 2026, at the Almaly District Court in Almaty, where the defendants face charges of hooliganism, negligence, and spreading lies. On the first day of the trial, Amir Kasenov's preventive measure was tightened to detention due to systematic violations (publishing video appeals and failing to appear in court), after which he declared a "dry hunger strike," which he ended on June 26. Despite the severity of the process, Freedom Finance JSC repeatedly offered to resolve the dispute through a mediation agreement without financial demands on the journalists, insisting only on recognition of the publications as false, their removal, a retraction, and admission of guilt.