Violation of the right to defense is observed at the proceedings on case of the head of the Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan – lawyer

Almaty. September 6. Silkroadnews – The right of defense is being violated in the course of proceedings on case of Matayev, lawyer Madina Bakiyeva stated, KazTAG wrote.

«Starting from the first day of the process we saw what was going on there, when the public prosecutor has risen and begun to read the indictment while the judge prompted the prosecutor what to read. It reached the point this happened. The prosecutor read out a part, that is read the part of 2010 in full and then said that the rest «was going by analogy with 2010». We rose and asked to read the indictment in full. Reluctantly started to read it out in full. Then we saw the judge prompted the prosecutor. And then the process turned breaking loose, no respect to lawyers, not a word to defendants», M. Bakiyeva told Internet portal Zonakz reporter.

She reminded, from the very beginning the court rejected all the petitions by the defense, in particular those in regard to the jurisdiction on the case, additional judicial and economic expertise, change of the measure of restraint, change of place of staying of Matayevs in Astana and others.

M. Bakiyeva also added that the court refused to examine the evidences starting from the affected party's hearings, as the defense lawyers requested.

«On August 29 we asked to provide us with a list of witnesses to be called for the next session. They rejected the list we suggested. Then we asked to examine the affected side first, to understand how the amount of their claims got formed. How could that happen, that in their own words KazTAG fulfilled its obligations partially and yet they claim amount under all the contracts for 5 years? The same with «Kazakhtelecom» – where did they get the amount they claim, meaning what is the basis of calculations for their claim? Nevertheless, the session began with examination of witnesses», she explained.

Furthermore, according to M. Bakiyeva, schedule of interrogation of witnesses has been completely changed.
«On August 31 the witnesses failed to appear. Here the prosecutor rises and begins to mumble something about September 1, about someone being sick, but there are no reports, there are no explanatory notes. The judge said: «We cannot lose a day though. We have invited witnesses from the Communication, Informatization and Information Committee". We believe this has been done intentionally to get on top of defense not to allow us asking the right questions to expose those witnesses and reveal the truth on the case», she said.

To remind, the major hearings on S. Matayev and A. Matayev began in Astana on August 23 headed by the Chairman of the Esil district court №2 of Astana Akbulat Kurmantayev. During the session S. Matayev felt bad due to high blood pressure. The court called for emergency medical care and adjourned the hearing on August 24. Then S. Matayev was urgently hospitalized to the cardiology department of medical oncology scientific center with a diagnosis of «hypertensive crisis» and the hearing was adjourned until August 29.