KZBlog

After this daring story of kidnapping and escape:

Yesterday press service of the Foreign Ministry held a briefing and told an incredible story about the runaway of Mukhtar Aliyev – prominent surgeon and father of disgraced former presidential son-in-law – from his son. According to the MFA, Aliyev Sr. allegedly crawled over the fence, which surrounds the Rakhat’s mansion in Vienna, and got to the Kazakh embassy to beg for protection from his son. The disseminated statement, written by Mukhtar Aliyev at the embassy, reads that his son forcibly detained him under convoy, and took away his money, passport, cellphone and personal belongings. Besides, it was announced that elderly Aliyev would come to Astana next day and give a press conference there.

comes this apparent retraction:

Mukhtar Aliev, the father of Rakhat Aliev — the former son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev — has left the Kazakh Embassy in Vienna and is denying reports of problems with his son, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reports.

Mukhtar Aliev told RFE/RL that the allegations made by the Kazakh Foreign Ministry about his son keeping him in Vienna since October by taking his travel documents are untrue.

I repeat that the problem with people’s lack of faith in the government has nothing to do with whether there is corruption or not, whether the government’s actions are always morally pure or not–all governments in all nations engage in questionable activities. The problem is that no one knows who or what to believe, meaning that the unbelievable becomes plausible and the real becomes unbelievable.