What follows is a translation of a post by Mira Bakhytova from Russian-language neweurasia Kazakhstan.

The criminal investigation in the case of 87 South-Kazakhstani children infected with HIV is over. The investigation lasted for half a year and resulted in 47 volumes of court material. But the most scandalous case of 2006 will be considered in the quietest trial. The trial will be conducted behind the closed doors. This decision was communicated to the journalists invited for a briefing by Ziyadinhan Perniyaz, the chief judge of the Al-Farabi District Court, Shymkent. The Prosecutor’s office transferred 28 criminal cases - 47 thick folders, accusing 21 people, to this exact Court. 18 people are directly connected to the medical work.

Negligence, fraud, bribery and embezzlement are four main articles of the Criminal Code that are being invoked here. Former head of the regional department of healthcare Nursulu Tasmagambetova is among the accused, as well as two of her deputies and chief physicians of several children’s hospitals. According the Ziyadinhan Perniyaz, Tasmagambetova is accused of negligence. The maximum term of punishment for this crime is five years of imprisonment.

However, the public and the journalists in Shymkent doubt that all accused will get a term. The court chairman refused to read out all the names of the accused at the press-conference. He said that media is not allowed into the court building. He explained it by the necessity to protect the confidentiality of the victims. There are 78 of them today, all children infected with HIV (8 of them died, 1 was adopted by American citizens). According to the law, the court proceedings may last for one month, but if the case is complicated, they can be prolonged for 6 months. The results will be communicated to the public only after the verdict will enter into legal force. The judge said that the verdict will be announced for all the accused at the same time. The media representatives were asked not to bother the judges on this topic and that they would receive no comment even on the phone. Any questions from journalists will be considered as media pressure on the court.

The trial in the cases of HIV infection of the infants in three children’s hospitals of Shymkent starts on 19 January. The court hearings will be conducted in the main hall of the regional court, in Russian.