The deputy chairman of the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, Gurbanmyrat Hudayberdiyev, was sentenced in August to 13 years’ detention in a strict regime penitentiary for misuse of office and receiving bribes.
Hudayberdiyev has submitted an appeal against his sentence to the Supreme Court presidium.The appeal will be heard on September 13, according to a notice published on the Supreme Court website.Ex-deputy deputy chairman of the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan Gurbanmyrat HudayberdiyevGurbanmyrat Hudayberdiyev was arrested at work on August 5 by an operations group from the Ministry of National Security, a source in one of the country’s defense and security agencies told turkmen.news.
His case was heard by the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan, while the trial itself took place at Kopetdag district court in Ashgabat.The trial lasted three days and ended on August 27, the source said.According to the notice on the Supreme Court website, Hudayberdiyev was found guilty under two articles of the Criminal Code: misuse of official powers leading to grave consequences (Art. 196, part 2); and the receipt of bribes by a group of persons by prior agreement, or by an organized group or an official holding a position of responsibility (Art. 203, part 2, para. “c”).President Serdar Berdimuhamedov promoted Hudayberdiyev from the post of chairman of the Mary region court to deputy chairman of the Supreme Court in February 2023.The source in the defense and security agencies told turkmen.news that the charges against Hudayberdiyev concerned his time in Mary.
One of the episodes in the criminal case related to Hudayberdiyev selling to his friends confiscated special equipment that belonged to the state.Almost half the staff of the Mary region court are reported to have appeared as witnesses at the trial.According to the notice on the Supreme Court website, another four people were named in Hudayberdiyev’s case: Yakup Sahetmyradov (sentenced to three years for misuse of powers), Parahat Saparov, Kakamyrat Akgaev, and Mater Materov (all three received five years for large-scale bribery of an official).
Turkmen.news tried to find out more about these men.All four received their passports in Mary region.One of Sahetmyradov’s telephone numbers is listed by other people as “Yakup the businessman”; Materov may have worked in the court system several of his telephone numbers refer to the court; Akgaev may have something to do with Mary railroad station, as others refer to him as “Kakysh Mary station ticket” and “train station Kakysh doctor”; while Saparov is listed as “Parahat the mechanic” and “Parahat spare parts.”Hudayberdiyev’s promotion to the Supreme Court of Turkmenistan came as part of President Berdimuhamedov’s replacement of the entire leadership of the court in February 2023.
Guvanchmyrat Ussanepesov was stripped of the post of chairman.Sources told turkmen.news that he had been dismissed for failings in the judicial system.Ussanepesov now works as a notary in the Ashgabat state notary office.As deputy chairman of the Supreme Court, Hudayberdiyev was reported to have been responsible for the work of Ashgabat city court and the district courts within the capital.A decision on the removal of Hudayberdiyev’s judicial powers was not published in the state media.