Astana, November 5. The commission set up by the Head of State to conduct a comprehensive audit of the Ministry of Defence has inspected more than 104 of the ministry’s sites, and law-enforcement bodies are now examining 37 cases over the violations found, the Security Council reported.
The commission is looking at safety and service conditions, food and clothing supply, medical care and the safekeeping of state property. A separate audit checks whether the ministry spends budget money effectively. Pre-trial investigations have begun on some of the violations found, but the Security Council stressed that details of the 37 cases are not being disclosed for now, in the interests of the investigation. The audit, it said, follows the principle of “Law and Order” and aims at systemic measures: the armed forces’ combat readiness and military discipline. The commission’s recommendations feed into the Military Reform Plan, and the commission itself will finish its work in November.
Separately, a criminal case is under way over the deaths of servicemen during exercises in the Mangystau region. It happened on September 24, during a combat-training task: 17 servicemen were swept out to open sea, three were rescued and fourteen died. On November 5 the Prosecutor General’s Office said that more than 300 people had been questioned and more than 30 forensic examinations and studies carried out. Eight officials are in custody by court order. They are suspected of negligence in service and of violating navigation rules: the commander-in-chief of the Navy, his first deputy and his deputy for combat training, the commanders of two military units, of a battalion and of a marine company, and the boat’s captain. The prosecutors plan to complete the investigative steps and let the parties read the case file soon.
What it means: The official reports describe two separate tracks. The first is the case over the servicemen’s deaths, where suspects are already in custody and the investigation is nearing its end. The second is the general audit of the ministry, for which only the scope, the number of cases and the deadline have been given. The Security Council does not say whether the 37 cases are linked to the tragedy on the Caspian.
What we know now: The audit has covered more than 104 sites, 37 cases are with the law-enforcement bodies, and the commission will finish in November. In the case over the servicemen’s deaths eight people are in custody, and the investigation is promised to end soon. What violations underlie the 37 cases, in which units they were found and what the audit of budget funds has shown is not yet reported.
Background: A pre-trial investigation is the stage of criminal proceedings before a case goes to court: the investigator collects evidence and decides whether to bring charges. A “case under examination by the bodies of criminal prosecution” means neither a charge nor a verdict. The military investigative bodies of the Interior Ministry are units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that investigate cases connected with military service.
