KZBlog

Rakhat Aliyev’s first trial in absentia is over. He was found guilty of kidnapping, organizing a criminal group, extortion, robbery, misappropriation of state property, and fraud, and sentenced him in absentia to 20 years in prison along with the confiscation of his property. ”

The judge also recommended that he be stripped of all state titles and awards, something only the President can do.

The sentence of 20 years will begin when he is arrested–if, of course, he is arrested.

As RFE/RL notes, there are a number of unanswered questions as of yet, including:

who gets Aliev’s confiscated property? When his wife Darigha, President Nazarbaev’s eldest daughter, divorced Aliev last year she received some of his possessions and property. Does she get the rest now? And what about their eldest child, Nurali, who now, at the age of 22, is chairman of the board at Nurbank, the company in which his father used strong-arm tactics to acquire a majority stake? It seems he will keep his position.

And there are also questions of the exact legal status and conditions for a trial-in-absentia. Or why the government chose not to wait until he was detained to try him.

The next trial will begin 23 Jan and will be a military tribunal to determine if Aliev and 12 confederates plotted a coup d’etat and disclosed state secrets.