Man who threatened airport worker with knife gets 11-year prison term

The Turkisib District Court of Almaty, Kazakhstan, has sentenced 67-year-old Mashrabbek Baratov to 11 years in prison for a crime involving a hostage situation at the city’s airport, "Stan.kz" reported.

Baratov was found guilty under several articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, including hostage-taking, hooliganism with the use of weapons, and false reporting of a terrorist act.

The court also included a previously imposed but not yet fully executed sentence from 2023—a restriction of liberty—into the new ruling. As a result, the final punishment amounts to 11 years in a medium-security penal institution.

During the trial, Baratov’s confession was taken into account as a mitigating circumstance. He claimed that he “accidentally ended up at the airport.”

To recall, on March 7 this year, Baratov, posing as a passenger at the domestic terminal, entered the pre-flight inspection area. When aviation security officers asked for his documents, he grabbed a female inspector by the hair and threatened her with a knife. He also claimed to have a bomb and threatened to detonate it.

A passenger eventually neutralized Baratov, Musa Sayranbayuli Abdurayim, who engaged him in conversation, offered to take the woman’s place as a hostage, distracted him, and then swiftly disarmed him.

On the same day, by decree of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Abdurayim was awarded the medal “For Courage.”