An appellate panel in Kazakhstan's Jambyl Region has revised the sentence in a case involving the organization of illegal migration by a group acting in prior conspiracy, reducing the punishment to 2 years and 8 months of imprisonment for each defendant, the website infohub.kz reports.
According to the official Telegram channel of the Jambyl Region courts, the criminal case against two defendants was heard on appeal. The case concerns Part 2 of Article 394 of the Criminal Code — organizing illegal migration by a group of persons acting in prior conspiracy.
The Merke District Court found that the convicted woman — a foreign national holding a residence permit in Kazakhstan — organized the illegal entry of foreigners into the country for financial reward. To do so, she enlisted the second convicted person, who was to meet the foreigners on Kazakh territory and transport them to populated areas.
In December 2025, the defendants arranged for the illegal movement of a citizen of Uzbekistan for 350,000 tenge, housed him on the territory of the convicted man's farm, and then transported him to Merke.
In January 2026, they attempted to organize the illegal entry of another citizen of Uzbekistan — this time for 900 US dollars. However, the border service detected them: the foreigner was detained, and the defendant fled the scene.
The court of first instance recognized as mitigating circumstances for both defendants their guilty pleas, absence of criminal records, and having minor children. The Merke District Court sentenced each of them to 4 years of imprisonment. Under the Amnesty Law, the term was reduced by one-quarter — to 3 years of imprisonment. For the woman, who has three minor children in her care, the execution of the sentence was deferred for 2 years.
The convicted woman and the district prosecutor appealed the verdict. The appellate panel amended the first-instance court's ruling: under the Amnesty Law, the punishment was reduced by one-third, with each defendant sentenced to 2 years and 8 months of imprisonment. The rest of the verdict was left unchanged. The court rulings have entered into legal force.