Baurzhan Muhamedzhanov Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan Date of Birth: 26.11.1960 Country: Kazakhstan

1. Biography of Baurzhan Mukhamedzhanov
2. Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan
3. Involvement in High-Profile Cases
4. Other Activities and Accusations
5. Recognition and Personal Life

Biography of Baurzhan Mukhamedzhanov

Baurzhan Alimovich Mukhamedzhanov was born on November 26, 1960, in the village of Merke, Merke district, Jambyl region, Kazakh SSR. He graduated from the Law Faculty of the Kazakh State University (KSU) and later defended his dissertation for a candidate's degree in legal sciences. From 1983 to 1990, he worked as a trainee researcher and lecturer at the Department of Theory and History of the State and Law at KSU. From 1990 to 1992, Mukhamedzhanov was a consultant and head of the Legislation and Legal Expertise Department of the Supreme Council of Kazakhstan. In 1992, he became the head of the Secretariat of the Chairman of the Supreme Council. In October 1994, he was appointed head of the Department of Legislative Initiatives of the Presidential Office of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, and in March 1996, he became the Secretary of the Supreme Judicial Council. From 1997 to 2000, Mukhamedzhanov served as the Minister of Justice of Kazakhstan. In 2000 and from 2003 to 2005, he was the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration (simultaneously, from 2004, he was the head of the Department of Organizational and Control Work and Personnel Policy of the Administration), and from 2001 to 2002, he served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan. In October 2005, by the decree of President Nazarbayev, Mukhamedzhanov was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, replacing Zautbek Turisbekov, who became the Chairman of the Agency for Civil Service Affairs.

Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan

Mukhamedzhanov became the Minister of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan in October 2005. Prior to this, he had held various high-ranking governmental positions, including Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Justice, and Secretary of the Supreme Judicial Council of Kazakhstan. As the Minister of Internal Affairs, he oversaw the investigation of the murder of opposition activist Altynbek Sarsenbayev in February 2006. In May 2007, he was accused of corruption and criminal ties by Rahat Aliyev, the son-in-law of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev. In the same month, a criminal case was initiated against Aliyev.

Involvement in High-Profile Cases

Mukhamedzhanov was mentioned in the media in connection with the murder of Altynbek Sarsenbayev, a political figure and former Minister of Information who was critical of President Nazarbayev. The Almaty court sentenced nine individuals, including members of the special forces unit "Arystan" of the National Security Committee (KNB) of Kazakhstan and the former head of the parliament's apparatus, Yerzhan Utembayev, who was recognized as the mastermind behind the murder, to various prison terms in August of the same year. The organizer and executor of the crime, KNB officer Rustam Ibragimov, was sentenced to death (although there is a moratorium on executions in Kazakhstan). According to the official version, Utembayev had a personal grudge against Sarsenbayev for his sharp criticism in the press. Mukhamedzhanov supervised the investigation and reported on it to the media. Some observers claimed that Mukhamedzhanov and the Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan, Rashid Tusupbekov, pressured Ibragimov to falsify evidence. Relatives and colleagues of Sarsenbayev were dissatisfied with the investigation and the trial's outcome. The media also raised the possibility that more influential individuals, who were connected to Utembayev and criticized by Sarsenbayev, could have initiated his elimination. It was noted that Sarsenbayev had repeatedly spoken out harshly against Nazarbayev's son-in-law, Rahat Aliyev, and that several officials, considered to be his main adversaries, were removed from their posts as a result of the murder investigation.

Other Activities and Accusations

In October 2006, Mukhamedzhanov stated that lenient court sentences for drug trafficking cases led to recidivism and more sophisticated actions by drug traffickers. In the same month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan proposed to tighten punishments for drug-related crimes, including the death penalty. In January 2007, Mukhamedzhanov was reconfirmed as the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 2007, he was involved in the media reports about the "Nurbank case." In January 2007, the Chairman of the Board of Kazakhstan's Nurbank, Abilmazhen Gilimov, was dismissed from his position, and his wife reported his disappearance to the police after he did not return home from a bank board meeting attended by Aliyev. In February, Gilimov's wife wrote an open letter to Nazarbayev, stating that her husband had been beaten and threatened even before the meeting, forcing him to transfer control of Nurbank to Aliyev. In response, Aliyev denied all accusations, and in May 2007, he accused Mukhamedzhanov and the head of Almaty's administration, Imangali Tasmagambetov, of corruption, criminal ties, and initiating a "dirty slander campaign" against him. A criminal case was initiated against Aliyev in May, and he was placed on an international wanted list.

Recognition and Personal Life

Mukhamedzhanov has been awarded the orders "Parasat" and "Bars" of Kazakhstan, as well as two medals. He is married and has a daughter.