A court in Almaty has sentenced the former editor-in-chief of Orda.kz, Gulnar Bazhenova, to eight years in prison, reports a NUR.KZ correspondent.
According to the Almaty city court, on August 18, the Bostandyk district court for criminal cases No. 2 issued the verdict. She was sentenced to 8 years in prison with a two-year reprieve.
"It was established that between November 2024 and December 2025, B., as a manager, using her official position, embezzled 88,144,127 tenge from company accounts and transferred them to the account of a controlled individual entrepreneur under the guise of payment for fictitious advertising, professional, and scientific services, and also paid for her son's tuition at a private international school. Additionally, B., without being registered as a business entity, earned 121,200,000 tenge from buying and selling apartments in Almaty without paying taxes. Between 2024 and 2025, B., as editor-in-chief of the information-analytical portal 'O', repeatedly (8 episodes), in a group of persons by prior conspiracy, disseminated deliberately false information via internet resources and social networks, causing substantial harm to the rights and legitimate interests of citizens, organizations, and the state," the court statement said.
As a result, Gulnar Bazhenova was found guilty and sentenced to 8 years in prison, with a 5-year ban on engaging in media, journalism, blogging, public events, and other public activities, as well as holding leadership and financially responsible positions in media-related organizations. In addition, the execution of the sentence was postponed for two years due to having a child under 14.
Bazhenova must also pay 95,992,350 tenge in compensation for material damage, a state fee of 2,879,770 tenge, and legal costs and procedural expenses of the injured party amounting to 6,800,000 tenge. The verdict has not yet entered into force.
Recall that the trial in Bazhenova's case began on July 2. According to case materials, the journalist was accused of committing criminal offenses under paragraph 2 of part 2 of Article 214, paragraph 1 of part 2 of Article 274, and paragraph 2 of part 4 of Article 189 of the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan - illegal entrepreneurship, dissemination of deliberately false information, and embezzlement or misappropriation of entrusted property.