By: Derek Bloom
Judge Keikibasova of the Almalinsky Regional Court of the City of Almaty has issued a thorough decision refuting all the false accusations made against Mark Seidenfeld by OAO “Arna”.
The decision accuses Kazakh law enforcement authorities of numerous violations of law and international treaties in their pursuit of the false accusations brought against Mark Seidenfeld by OAO “Arna”.
The decision summarizes the testimony of all key witnesses at the trial and notes the internal inconsistencies and falsity of much of the testimony of prosecution witnesses.
The role of Murat Zhunussov in organizing false accusations against Mark Seidenfeld is discussed, including the hiring back of employees who had been fired by Mark Seidenfeld after they made false accusations against Mark Seidenfeld.
The bad relations between Murat Zhunussov and Mark Seidenfeld are discussed and partly explained and attributed to a time when Mark Seidenfeld terminated a consulting agreement between Murat Zhunussov and OAO “Arna” [on orders from the then Board of Directors of OAO "Arna"] and discontinued payments of significant fees to Murat Zhunussov for purported consulting services to OAO “Arna” at a time when he had no role in company management.
The decision makes clear that the central accusations against Mark Seidenfeld, that he kept money that was intended for the acquisition of equipment, are all false. All money is accounted for. All equipment was received and placed into service.
It is discussed that Kazakh law enforcement agencies violated Kazakh law by accusing Mark Seidenfeld of crimes that were not alleged in the request for his extradition from Russia to Kazakhstan. Kazakh law enforcement agencies earlier dropped their original accusations against Mark Seidenfeld when it became clear they were false and could be disproven in court. Months of delay then followed while new accusations were drawn up. The new accusations have now been disproven in the Almalinsky Regional Court.
The decision of the Almalinsky Regional Court of the City of Almaty ends with the following findings, translated here to English:
“Mark Seidenfeld is found not guilty and is acquitted of the accusation of having committed a crime within the meaning of Paragraph “b” of Part Three of Article 176 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan because of the absence in his actions of the elements of a crime.
Mark Seidenfeld is ruled to have a right to compensation for damages caused to him by the illegal actions of law enforcement agencies which led the criminal law enforcement procedures against him, pursuant to Article 42 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
He is to be immediately freed from arrest in the court room.
The civil suit of OAO “Arna” to receive damages from Mark Seidenfeld in the amount of 5,457,500 Tenge is not to be considered.
All evidence in the case is to be returned to OAO “Arna”.
OAO “Arna” is to pay court costs in the amount of 179,200 Tenge to the State.
This decision may be appealed and protested within 15 days from the date of its announcement to the Collegium on Criminal Affairs on the Almaty City Court by means of the filing of an appeal and the delivery of a protest via the Almalinsky Regional Court in the City of Almaty”
The family and friends of Mark Seidenfeld express their gratitude and satisfaction that a just decision has been reached by the Almalinsky Regional Court of the City of Almaty.
A complete history of the false accusations against Mark Seidenfeld is available at: http://savemark.wordpress.com/ Please contact Derek Bloom at bloomda@gmail.com for additional information.
