Two bloggers who were detained in Almaty on suspicion of extortion face up to 15 years in prison, reports Tengrinews.kz correspondent.
According to the Almaty prosecutor's office, in response to an official inquiry from the editorial team, the city's police department is currently conducting a pre-trial investigation under Article 194, Part 4, Clause 2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Extortion committed in a particularly large amount"). It is important to note that the sanctions of this article provide for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of seven to 15 years with confiscation of property.
Recall that news of the bloggers' detention in Almaty emerged on January 23. At that time, it was reported that they were detained following a complaint from the victim regarding the receipt of 10 million tenge.
"The suspects, using blackmail and the threat of publishing compromising materials on social media, extorted 8 million tenge. Additionally, they attempted to persuade the victim to withdraw claims for a sum of 20 million tenge that the entrepreneur was obligated to pay by court decision," police reported.
As learned by Tengrinews.kz correspondent from reliable sources, the detained bloggers are Damir Kusheev and Ruslan Karimov.