KZBlog

According to gazeta.kz, an employee of the KTK television company was kidnapped Thursday morning and held in a cell, though he has since been released. His situation remains critical after he suffered a stroke and potentially numerous concussions. He was taken at KTK headquarters by people in civilian clothes–two of them wearing masks–and driven away in a cavalcade of Mercedes, though one person drove away in a car belonging to KTK. It is not clear how he was released or discovered, but apparently he told doctors that the police beat him.

Apparently he was detained by the police at one point, th0ugh I am unclear whether this was before or after his kidnapping, in connection with Zholdas Timraliyev, who is wanted for financial crimes.

EDIT: Adam Kesher has the full story up on Neweurasia, in Russian. He links this kidnapping as well as the kidnapping and beating of a member of the Presidential Guard to the earlier kidnapping of a director of Nurbank, alledgedly by Rakhat Aliyev. I won’t try to summarize his article, but everyone should read it for themselves.