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Eurasia
February 23, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 24
claimed the allegations that he ordered Tokmadi to kill Tatishev are a "lie."
Tokmadi’s wife, Jamilya Aimbetova-Tokmadi, said on her Instagram page last year that her husband was tortured while in detention and that she did not believe the Kazakh Security Services’ (KNB's) allegations. She claimed she was threatened by the KNB for vocalising her opinions. Furthermore, she alleged that the KNB was attempting to force Tokmadi to “admit” from prison that he murdered Tatishev on Ablyazov’s orders. Aimbetova-Tokmadi maintained that a Youtube video from July 2017 featuring her husband’s relative Beken Imankali- yev, who accused Tokmadi of killing Tatishev, was disingenuous as Imankaliyev was likely pressured to record it.
The October 25 statement about the reopening of the Tatishev case followed a television documen- tary aired on October 24 in which Tokmadi states that Tatishev’s death was a “hit job” ordered by Ablyazov.
Tokmadi is an owner of large glass manufactur- ing producers, including KazStroySteklo. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has previously granted government awards to Tokmadi’s busi- ness for high-quality work.
An in-absentia trial sentenced Ablyazov on June 7 last year to 20 years in prison for crimes including the theft of pension assets and savings. An Almaty court convicted him of abusing office, organising and leading a criminal group, financial misman- agement and embezzlement. Ablyazov reportedly described the trial as a farce. According to the charges, Ablyazov allegedly stole pension assets and personal savings as well as loans received
from foreign financial institutions, causing dam- ages estimated at $7.5bn.
Ablyazov initially fled Kazakhstan for the UK where he was granted political asylum. After a British court issued an order to arrest him for contempt of court, he then fled to France. In 2013, Ablyazov was arrested in France after 18 months in hiding. He was released from jail on December 9 last year after the highest French administra- tive court cancelled an order for his extradition to Russia. That move was made based on Ablyazov’s claims that the whole case against him is politi- cally motivated.
An extradition to Russia would mean he would be immediately surrendered to Kazakhstan, Ablyazov has claimed.
While in exile, Ablyazov has been a vocal critic of President Nazarbayev’s regime. He has alleged that the Kazakh authorities’ accusations are part of a vendetta against him for trangressing against Nazarbayev by breaking a code of trust between the Kazakh oligarchs. Prior to falling out of favour with Kazakhstan’s regime, Ablyazov briefly led an opposition movement against Nazarbayev in 2002 before re-aligning himself with the regime.
Turning against Nazarbayev once again, this time in Europe, Ablyazov earned himself a number of supporters, including human rights activists and Kazakh dissidents. His allies argue that the sup- posed diversion of money by Ablyazov, even if it were potentially true, would only show that he played by the rules of the Kazakh oligarchs and that he now poses a threat to the regime due to the insider secrets he gained by partaking in the kleptocracy.