Aug 7, 2007

Aliev, Scapegoat or Total Criminal?

While it would be naive to think that Rakhat Aliev, former son-in-law to President Nazerbayev, never acted unethically and respected both the spirit and the letter of Kazakh law - did this guy really murder, abduct, assault and launder money AND get away with it for years?

RFE/RL is reporting that the body of Anastasia Novikova, missing since 2004, has been found. Novikova worked for NTK television, a subsidiary of Alma-Media group which was co-owned by Aliev until his flight from Kazakhstan earlier this summer. According to RFE/RL, Aliev and Novikova "reportedly had a personal relationship" and the Kazakh Interior Ministry is investigating the possibility that Aliev was involved in her death.

If Aliev is the criminal he is being made out to be, shame on the Kazakh government and shame on the ruling family to let him get away with so many crimes for so long. If, however, Aliev is being persecuted for expressing a desire to replace Nazerbayev as President, this is but more evidence that Kazakhstan is not the democracy it wants the west to think it is.

1 comment:

Pirates(and)Diplomats said...

Oh you know it.