Advertisement

Kazakh ex-Ambassador charged with murder

The Local Austria
The Local Austria - [email protected]
Kazakh ex-Ambassador charged with murder
Rakhat Aliyev. Photo: APA

According to an announcement from the Vienna Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday, the former Kazakh Ambassador to the OSCE in Austria Rakhat Aliyev has now been charged with double murder, reports the Austrian Press Agency (APA).

Advertisement

The details of the indictment remain sealed, according to Vienna prosecutor Thomas Vecsey and Upper Regional Court spokeswoman Christina Salzborn, as the respective lawyers must formally be notified.
 
The former son-in-law of Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev is accused of killing two bank managers in Kazakhstan, and has been held in custody in Austria since June, when he turned himself in to authorities after an arrest warrant was issued.
 
A few days ago, Aliyev's custody remand was extended by two months, likely in anticipation of the charges.  Kazakhstan has repeatedly requested extradition, but these requests were denied due to the likely political background of trials in that country.
 
Austria began its own investigation of the alleged murders in 2011.  Aliyev now has two weeks to appeal the charges, but is likely to face trial in 2015.
 
A court in the central Asian republic of Kazakhstan found him guilty of the murder of two bankers who were kidnapped in 2007 and found dead in 2011.

Austria twice refused to extradite him, believing he would not receive a fair trial back home.

In July 2011, Austrian justice launched its own enquiry against Aliyev, who had since left for Malta.

Aliev, a politician and businessman, claims to be the victim of political intrigue after expressing ambitions to stand for the Kazakh presidency.

He was formerly married to Dariga Nazarbayeva, eldest daughter of Kazakh strongman Nazarbayev.

Long seen as a potential successor to her father, she had disappeared from public view when her former husband fell out with Nazarbayev, only returning to politics in 2012 when she was elected as an MP.

Nazarbayev, 73, has ruled Kazakhstan for two decades, making the energy-rich state into a magnet for foreign investors, but he is often criticised for jailing his critics and shutting down dissenting media.

Aliyev's problems first began in 2007, when he was implicated in the disappearance of two former executives of the Kazakh bank Nurbank, both of whom were under investigation for fraud. Aliyev was the de facto owner of the bank at the time.

The Skype calls allegedly capture Aliyev discussing the location of the executives' bodies - which were only discovered seven months later by Kazakh authorities. Additionally, a manufactured alibi at the time of the disappearance of the executives was said to have been discussed.

Days after the disappearance, Aliyev was appointed as Kazakhstan's official Ambassador in Austria, as well as Permanent Representative to the OSCE, thereby granting him diplomatic immunity.

Later that year, Kazakh law enforcement bodies asked for permission to investigate the alleged abduction of the bankers "without regard for rank", with Aliyev formally accused of being involved by May 2007.  

Later that same month, Nazarbayev signed a constitutional amendment that made himself effectively president-for-life, a move that was widely opposed, including by Aliyev.

In addition to charges of abduction and extortion relating to the missing executives, Aliyev was also implicated in the kidnapping of a Russian TV executive working in Kazakstan in the mid 1990s.  These charges led to Kazakhstan issuing an international arrest warrant, requesting Austria to extradite Aliyev back to Kazakhstan to face charges relating to the kidnapping.

In August 2007, a court in Vienna rejected Kazakhstan's warrant, saying that Aliyev would not face a fair trial, and that his human rights would likely be violated.  The Almaty district court sentenced Aliyev in absentia to 20 years in a high-security prison, as well as confiscation of all his assets.

The following year, a military court also tried Aliyev in absentia, finding him guilty of treason and the planning of a coup d'état, and also sentencing him to a subsequent 20 years in prison.

A subsequent extradition request in 2011 was again denied by the Austrian courts, due to the belief that the charges were politically motivated.  At that time, Austria opened its own investigation into the charges, based on documents provided by the Kazakhstan government.  The same year the bodies of the bank executives who went missing in 2007 were found. 

The latest court hearings began early in June 2014, when Aliyev was invited to Vienna for questioning by Austrian investigators from his home in Malta, whereupon he was arrested and detained. Additionally, two of his alleged accomplices, including the former head of the Kazakh secret service, were also detained in Vienna.

The latest evidence provided by the Kazakh authorities suggest that Aliyev was also implicated in the 2006 murder of Altynbek Sarsenbayev, an opposition leader who was executed along with his bodyguard and driver near the city of Almaty.  

Nine people, including five officers of Kazakhstan's KNB security service were arrested and sentenced for these murders.  The fresh charges were based on the 2012 confession of one of the alleged killers-for-hire, who stated that Aliyev had paid for the killings.

With the latest arrest, Aliyev will remain in jail until the investigation and court process against him are complete.  According to Tengri News, the spokesman of the Vienna Prosecutor's office, Thomas Vecsui, said that Aliyev would not be released on bail.  "Releasing individuals on bail is not envisaged by Austrian procedural law for murder cases," he said.

According to Tengri News, Austria has asked Kazakhstan not to interfere with its investigation into the kidnap and murder of the two bankers, whose widows are represented in the latest action by Austrian lawyers.  

Aliyev had been living since 2010 in Malta, as the husband of an Austrian citizen, Elnara Shorazova.  If he returns to Kazakhstan, he faces the prospect of 40 years in prison, while the Austrian charges carry with them a maximum sentence of 20 years.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also