Austria Refuses to Extradite Kazakh Leader’s Former Son-in-Law

Text of report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS

Vienna, 9 August: The former ambassador of Kazakhstan to Austria [and Kazakh leader's former son-in-law, wanted on kidnapping charges in his home country], Rakhat Aliyev, will not be handed over to the Kazakh authorities. The Vienna land court ruled against his extradition on Wednesday evening [8 August]. The verdict has come into force and is final.

“The case against the former ambassador of Kazakhstan is closed. From the point of view of the Austrian authorities he is a free person,” an official representative from the [Austrian] prosecutor’s office, Gerhard Jarosch, said.

[Editor's note: Aliyev was arrested in Austria on a warrant charging him with kidnapping, but was freed on bail to await the outcome of the extradition hearing. In June, Aliyev was divorced by his wife, Dariga Nazarbayeva, the president's daughter.]

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