CORRUPT POLICE OFFICIAL CHARGED WITH PROTECTING A

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 003182

SIPDIS

STATE FOR INL/AAE (BUHLER),G/TIP, SCA/CEN (O'MARA)

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR SOCI KCRM KZ
SUBJECT: CORRUPT POLICE OFFICIAL CHARGED WITH PROTECTING A
PROSTITUTION RING.


ASTANA 00003182 001.2 OF 002


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SUMMARY
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1. A senior police official has been charged with abuse of his
professional functions and falsifying evidence in connection with
his facilitating the illegal business activities of an Almaty madam.
In March, the local newspaper Vremya began publishing a series of
articles about the official and the madam. (Note: The following
information comes exclusively from media reports and does not
contain information received from the police or courts. End Note.)

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MAMA ROZA AND CAPTAIN MOROZOV
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2. Olga Kodonidi, known as Mama Roza, is a 45 year-old woman who
started working in the commercial sex trade in 1997. In the
beginning, she had only a few girls in her brothel. Over time she
hired approximately 100 girls from the ages of 18 to 25 from
Uzbekistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan. Her net
income has been estimated at sixty thousand dollars per month and
her assets are estimated at five million dollars.


3. For his participation in Mama Roza's illegal business activities,
Captain Igor Morozov, the former head of the anti-trafficking in
persons unit of the Ministry of Interior (MVD),has been charged
with abuse of his professional functions and falsifying evidence. He
faces up to eight years in prison on the first charge and three to
seven on the second one. Morozov was allegedly paid thousands of
dollars to look after Madam Roza's prostitutes and brothels.


4. In one incident in September 2006, Mama Roza asked Morozov to
help her resolve a disagreement with the owner of the Alladdin
sauna, who refused to allow Mama Roza's prostitutes to work in the
sauna. Mama Roza asked Morozov to arrest the owner, surname
Zhuravleva, on a false pimping charge. Morozov sent police to the
sauna to "catch" Morozov's driver, playing the part of a client,
with two of her prostitutes. A criminal case was opened and
Zhuravleva received a prison sentence in January. A court recently
overturned the sentence and freed Zhuravleva.


5. A criminal case against Morozov reached the courts only because
the investigation of his activities was well planned and personally
directed by the Minister of Interior. The Minister dispatched a
team from the Ministry's Department of Personal Security to Almaty
to conduct the investigation. Several senior police officers have
been fired for their connections with criminal enterprises. More
than ten officers are under investigation for their connections to
various criminal groups.

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MVD TAKING ACTION
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6. The MVD has taken a firm position in this matter. The Minister
of Interior stated that police officers who work for criminals or
are corrupt will receive the most severe punishment. At the same
time, the police are taking active measures against pimps, brothel
operators, and prostitutes. Recently, they have arrested eighteen
pimps, sixteen of whom are before the courts. Nine brothels and
four hotels have been closed and 476 foreign prostitutes have been
expelled from the country.

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PROSTITUTION IN KAZAKHSTAN
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7. The press has also recently reported that:

- More than 20 police officers from the rank of Major to Colonel are
allegedly on pimps' payrolls and some live with the pimps;

- Every year more than five thousand prostitutes depart from the
Almaty International Airport to work as prostitutes abroad. Few of
them return and their whereabouts are unknown;

- On the black market, a Kyrgyz passport costs USD 450-1000 and an
Uzbek passport USD 800-2000. A Kazakhstani passport is the most
expensive and costs USD 3000-10,000. It costs USD 50-300 to cross
the Kazakhstani border illegally;

- Successful pimps pay police as much as USD 10,000, small-scale
pimps pay USD 2000-6000. Each prostitute pays police USD 30-100.

- In 1999, police arrested and registered 17,000 prostitutes. This
year, police arrested and registered 85,000.

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ASTANA 00003182 002.2 OF 002


COMMENT
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8. It is a welcome sign that the media in Kazakhstan is writing
about corruption in the police force. It is also encouraging that
senior police officials appear to be expressing intolerance toward
corruption and taking measures against it. End comment.

ORDWAY