EurasiaNet Eurasia Insight - Kazakhstan: Rakhatgate Scandal Continues to Haunt Astana

EURASIA INSIGHT

KAZAKHSTAN: RAKHATGATE SCANDAL CONTINUES TO HAUNT ASTANA
Joanna Lillis 10/14/08

When Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, moved to destroy the political ambitions of his then son-in-law, he aimed to promote stability by bringing an end to political clan infighting and snuff out speculation about presidential succession. However, a year and a half later, the Rakhat Aliyev case refuses to go away, and political maneuvering remains rife in Astana.

A recent attack on an associate of Aliyev and reports that a series of high-profile figures in Kazakhstan have become subjects of criminal investigations -- probes that are widely seen as linked to the Rakhatgate -- have served to bring more unwelcome publicity to the Nazarbayev administration.

Aliyev’s associate and former boss as head of the National Security Committee (NSC), Alnur Musayev, says he was attacked September 22 in Vienna by four armed men speaking Russian. The assault, the aim of which remains unclear, was botched and Musayev escaped without serious injury, though his translator was wounded. Musayev and Aliyev -- who were convicted in two separate trials held in absentia in Kazakhstan earlier this year on charges including seeking to overthrow the state, kidnapping and theft -- have now been given a special police guard in the Austrian capital, where they live in self-imposed exile. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. An Austrian police investigation is ongoing.

The attack on Musayev prompted Aliyev to launch another volley in his ongoing propaganda struggle against the Nazarbayev administration: he told Austria’s Profil magazine in an interview published October 6 that Kazakhstan’s president had put a $10 million dollar bounty on his head. While Aliyev and Musayev have had sympathetic hearings from some Western media outlets following the September 22 incident, some newspapers and broadcasters in Kazakhstan poured scorn on the supposed attack on Musayev. "Blood or Bluff?" the Vremya newspaper asked. Many reports pointed out that the attack came shortly after relatives of the victims of the kidnappings of which Aliyev was accused mounted a new campaign for his extradition. Austria has refused to hand over Aliyev, Musayev and several other Kazakhstanis on the grounds that they cannot be guaranteed a fair trial in their homeland. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Striving to increase pressure on Kazakhstani leaders, Aliyev has used his blog to fire off accusations that people once associated with him are being detained on politically-motivated charges. "Ever more people seized by Nazarbayev’s guard ’for links with Aliyev’ are apparently under house arrest," he commented September 19, listing several names including the former head of the KazMunaiGaz national energy company, Serik Burkitbayev, and lawyer Lyubov Balmagambetova. Her enthusiastic pursuit of cases brought by Aliyev in Kazakhstan’s courts over the years earned her the nickname the Devil’s Advocate in some Kazakhstani newspapers.

According to media reports in Kazakhstan, Burkitbayev, who once headed the Kazakhtelekom national communications company, has been questioned over suspicions that he gave Aliyev telephone tapping equipment that subsequently allowed him to obtain unflattering recordings of leading members of Kazakhstan’s business and political elite. Since Aliyev’s downfall, such recordings have regularly been leaked over the Internet, causing embarrassment to Astana.

The former head of the NSC’s Electronic Intelligence Service, which runs surveillance and wire-tapping operations, came under investigation earlier this year in a case also thought to be linked to Aliyev, who was once the NSC’s deputy director. Maj. Gen. Zhomart Mazhrenov reportedly hanged himself in an NSC detention facility in July while being investigated for abuse of office, raising questions about how it was possible for him to commit suicide in such a closely guarded facility.

One more high-profile figure who has reportedly come under investigation is Nartay Dutbayev. Like Musayev, Dutbayev once headed the NSC, but resigned after officers subordinate to him were convicted of involvement in the murder of opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbayev. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. His removal from the post of presidential adviser last month prompted a flurry of media speculation about his impending political downfall, though Dutbayev, once a key Nazarbayev loyalist, shortly afterwards received the plum position of deputy head of the Kazatomprom nuclear company.

There has been intense media speculation in Kazakhstan about the reasons behind criminal investigations into these high-profile figures. "The law-enforcement bodies seem to have escaped from Nursultan Nazarbayev’s political control and turned into an instrument for settling scores between rival clan groupings," commented the Respublika newspaper in its September 26 issue.

In this climate, the NSC issued a statement on the investigations that raised more questions than it answered. Aliyev’s convictions had put an end to his case, the 23 September statement said, and people currently under investigation "are being brought to book for specific acts committed by them personally." The NSC did not name these figures, and added that it was "refraining from comments on these cases."

The security service also took the unusual step of addressing accusations made by Aliyev against Nazarbayev’s administration. "The provocative arguments and insinuations of a fugitive criminal about some ’lists’ of future arrestees, kidnappings and the torture of people are absolutely groundless," it said. "Nothing and no-one will be able to obstruct the consolidation of our country’s stability and security." The defensive nature of the statement and the willingness to engage in public rhetoric with Aliyev suggest that at least some of his accusations have ruffled feathers in the administration.

The NSC statement indicated that Rakhatgate continues to exert influence over domestic political developments. Far from quelling political rivalries in Kazakhstan by removing a powerful, ambitious and controversial figure from the scene, it appears to have snowballed into a stream of criminal cases and damaging allegations and counter-allegations that could end up haunting Astana for some time to come.

Editor's Note: Joanna Lillis is a freelance writer who specializes in Central Asia.

The Central Eurasia Project aims, through its website, meetings, papers, and grants, to foster a more informed debate about the social, political and economic developments of the Caucasus and Central Asia. It is a program of the Open Society Institute-New York. The Open Society Institute-New York is a private operating and grantmaking foundation that promotes the development of open societies around the world by supporting educational, social, and legal reform, and by encouraging alternative approaches to complex and controversial issues.

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