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Aliev Says Kazakh Authorities Try To 'Get' Him Using Former Associate


Rakhat Aliev
Rakhat Aliev
Rakhat Aliev, the former son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev, told RFE/RL's Kazakh Service that Kazakh authorities are trying "to get him" using his former associate Alnur Musaev.

Musaev, who is the former chief of Kazakhstan's Committee of National Security (KNB), told RFE/RL on August 24 that Aliev "might" have been involved in the kidnapping of two top bankers in Kazakhstan.

Both Aliev and Musaev have been living in Austria in self-imposed exile since 2007, after the Kazakh authorities accused Aliev of involvement in the kidnapping of the two bankers, who have disappeared.

Aliev says that all the accusations against him are politically motivated.

Last year, both Aliev and Musaev were tried in Kazakhstan in absentia and found guilty of involvement in the kidnapping and other crimes. Aliev was sentenced to 40 years in jail and Musaev to 35.

According to Musaev, the courts have strong evidence that Aliev was involved in the organization of the kidnapping.

Meanwhile, Aliev says that Musaev has relatives in Kazakhstan and the authorities might have used that factor to put pressure on Musaev to make him testify against Aliev, saying that the "main goal of President Nazarbaev and his people is to get me no matter what."

He also added that Musaev and his girlfriend were wounded by a KNB agent in Vienna in September last year and that might have scared Musaev as well.

According to Aliev, an Austrian parliamentary committee has now begun hearings into alleged attempts by the Kazakh secret services to influence the decisions of current and former members of the parliament through bribes and media manipulation.
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