Thanks to KZBlog for the heads up on this (check the post here) matter, as many will remember, Rakhat Aliyev fled to Austria to evade the Kazakh authorities, when he was finally accused of a range of crimes. See this search for previous posts that mention him, within this blog. The part about a separate military tribunal for the charges of planning a coup are new to me; though with America having previously proposed this sort of arrangement for terrorists, I suppose the Kazakh government judiciary has an answer ready for those that accuse it again of lack of transparency…
See the RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty article here.
Jan 18 2008
Aliyev Found Guilty, Even If Not Actually Present
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Jun 08 2007
Aliyev Discussion
I mentioned a while ago about the situation with Nazabayev’s (the President of Kazakhstan) son-in-law Rakhat Aliev (also spelt Aloyev). Thanks to this post at KZBlog, I have now read a good couple of posts that summarize the situation well. Two hours ago the links worked fine, now I can not access them.
The most likely explanation is simply that the server for that site is having problems, though other issues, such as a block being placed by Kazakh authorities are possible. Hopefully not too likely, but something to consider… Anyway, the 1st (and newer) post details the issues surrounding Aliyev’s extradition, and the second was written a little earlier, and is a more general summary of what has been allegedly going on with Aliyev and accusations of kidnapping.
Thanks to KZBlog once again for the heads up on those two posts.
Sep 20 2007
Spring Clean Of Bookmarks…
OK, this is one of the last posts I will make whilst in Kazakhstan, so I intend to use it to catch up with a few articles, videos and sites I have been meaning to post about in the last few weeks. Otherwise I will return in a little under a month, and forget all about them probably…
BBC article on the growth in high tech online crime.
Article on 50 Cent’s promise to quit, which he gave prior to his album being beaten to the UK#1 spot.
Related article on fiddy postponing his European tour.
Cool article on speech to sign language translation software. Most impressive.
Another article, this time on how DNA data could be at risk if funding organizations succeed in twisting researchers’ arms.
Article on how Chernobyl is to receive a new steel cover.
Were they pushed, did they jump, or were they stage managed dives? Check out a little background info here on the continuing political family soap opera that is Kazakhstan…
Article on beloved uncle Pres Nazarbayev not being nominated for the Nobel prize. Never mind, he got a consolation prize.
From 3 weeks ago, an article on arrest warrants being issued over the Aliyev case.
Piece on two bodyguard’s return to Kazakhstan and their confession live to the media. (Related to Aliyev’s alleged criminal activities).
VOA (Voice of America?) summary of the recent elections held in this country.
Is Kazakhstan to follow Russia’s example by moving in on, or at least re-negotiating contracts with, Western oil and gas companies? The International Herald Tribune’s website has a report on the goings on.
Reports from foreign diplomats/govt workers on Astana and Almaty. I had especially wanted to give these two pages their own post. Some of the information is incorrect, some is simply out of date, though there are some gems in there for those considering moving to this country. I may remember to make a more detailed post when I get back half way through October.
Finally a couple of YouTube vids that caught my attention, both from members over at the channels.nl forum I believe. The first is on a man with a lot of vision, and quite a variant on the static art you’ll see in most galleries…
Secondly, we have a video that will have little cultural reference if you are not in the right age band, but is about who would win if all the super heros and villans had a big scrap. Hmm, not sold that too well, sorry. Unless you have tight bandwidth restrictions per month, trust me, it is worth listening to 🙂
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Jun 19 2007
Pres Answers The Public
And it is KZBlog to the rescue again 🙂
They have posted a small summary (and some relevant links to other related posts) of President Nazarbayev’s online press conference, where he answered questions electronically submitted by citizens. See What Would You Like To Ask Him? for a little background on the process that occurred leading to this conference.
He answered some of the questions people were asking re. Aliev (Aliyev?), which is definitely an improvement over what may possibly have occurred years ago, with a blanket ban on such matters being aired in public. Whilst this country, if directly compared to ‘matured’ democracies in the West, still has a long way to go in some respects, there does seem to be an acceptance that some discussion is unavoidable, and that it is better to deal with/manage a situation, rather than simply stick your head in the sand.
May 16 2007
Scary Times For Kazakhstan
I thought I’d already linked to KZBlog’s article on the case of a business man who was abducted and beaten, allegedly by a well known figure in Kazakh politics, but I couldn’t find it a moment ago. Anyway, see here.
Then there is the current legal proceedings related to extraditing a man from Russia, to Kazakhstan, where questionable mistakes/errors of judgement appear to have been made. Not only do independently audited records allegedly display that no crime was committed, the charges he was extradited for appear to have been replaced with others, despite this breaking the due process, if reports are valid. Check here.
Now we have the case of a KTK (a Kazakh TV channel) employee who was kidnapped, beaten and held in a cell. His treatment was so shocking that he suffered a stroke. Click here for more info and a further link to a Russian language article on the incident.
On a slightly more light-hearted note, I’ve just come across a picture which look embarrassing enough, without any kind of background information…
Apparently his Supreme Stupidness G W Bush had almost inferred that Queen Elizabeth II was more than 200 years old, and so decided to recover his embarassment by giving a WINK to the Queen!
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