17-year-old Alikhan Zhanibek was at a meeting of young people from two districts of Shalkar and died from a knife wound to the chest. For his murder, a court sentenced a first-year student from Uralsk to nine years in prison. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
According to the investigation, five days before Alikhan's death, teenagers from the "Mayak" and "Rabochy" districts fought. The youths from "Mayak" sustained injuries. A student of the West Kazakhstan Agrarian Technical University, who identified with their group, learned about this. On March 18, he traveled from Uralsk to Shalkar, and the next day, together with acquaintances, he went in his mother's car to the "Rabochy" district to meet with the other side of the conflict.
On the night of March 20, Alikhan was wounded in the chest with a hunting knife. He died at the scene.
After school, the young man worked part-time and planned to join the army and then enter university.
At trial, the student did not admit guilt: he claimed he was attacked and was defending himself. Prosecutor Osman Orynbasaruly considered this version an attempt to avoid responsibility. Alikhan's parents asked for the defendant to be sentenced to 20 years in prison.
"We had great hopes for Alikhan. He was kind and open," said the mother of the deceased, Rauan Niyazmagambetova.
The prosecutor requested eight years for the accused.
The Specialized Interdistrict Court for Criminal Cases of Aktobe Region ultimately sentenced the student to nine years in prison in a medium-security facility. He is now 18 years old, but at the time of the murder he was a minor — the court took this into account when passing the sentence.
The convicted person must pay each of Alikhan's parents 15 million tenge for moral damages. In addition, the court obligated him to compensate more than 2 million tenge in material damage and legal fees.
The court also issued a private ruling addressed to the police department of Aktobe Region. It stated that police officers of Shalkar district did not engage in crime prevention among minors.
The verdict has not yet entered into legal force.