Closing arguments are underway in Aktobe in the case of the murder of 17-year-old Alikhan Zhanibekov, who died during a mass brawl in Shalkar. The state prosecutor asked the court to sentence the defendant to eight years in prison. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The brawl between groups of young people occurred in March 2026. Alikhan sustained a knife wound and died. According to the prosecution, the defendant planned the crime in advance and came to Shalkar from Uralsk for that purpose. He himself does not admit guilt, claiming he took the knife for self-defense.
The mother of the deceased, Rauan Niyazmaganbetova, asked the court to sentence the defendant to 20 years in prison and to compensate the family for material and moral damages.
"My child has been gone for exactly 188 days. Over these 188 days we have endured so much pain; there is not a single day when we have not cried," she said in court.
State prosecutor Usman Orynbasaruly asked that the defendant be found guilty under points 9 and 14 of part 2 of article 99 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to eight years in prison to be served in a medium-security facility. No verdict has yet been handed down in the case.
Earlier, Kursiv.kz wrote about the teenager's death after the brawl and the launch of a criminal investigation.