Defendant: Kazakh Officials Linked To Opposition Murder

Opposition supporters hold portrait of Sarsenbaev following his killing in February (RFE/RL)

August 2, 2006 -- A key defendant in the murder trial of Kazakh opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbaev and two aides today alleged that Senate speaker Nurtai Abykaev and former National Security Committee Chairman Nartai Dutbaev were involved in the February 11 killings.

Rustam Ibragimov, whom prosecutors accuse of killing Sarsenbaev and two aides, also claimed Abykaev and Dutbaev were plotting to overthrow President Nursultan Nazarbaev at the time of the murders.

Ten people have been on trial since mid-June on charges of being involved in Sarsenbaev's assassination. They include former security officers and a Senate official, Yerzhan Utembaev.

Utembaev has retracted his confession, saying he is not responsible for organizing the murder.

Many in Kazakhstan believe Sarsenbaev's killing was politically motivated and that senior government officials commissioned his assassination.

(Interfax-Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Today)