Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/232206
5 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 DECEMBER 2013 Aliyev seeking full EU citizenship An FBI investigation suspects Aliyev of having ordered a high-profile political murder in 2006, MATTHEW VELLA writes While Joseph Muscat ruled out any chance of Rakhat Aliyev (right) of being granted an IIP passport, the Kazakh exile had been trying to secure himself Cypriot citizenship CONTINUES FROM PAGE 1 Rakhat Aliyev, 51, has been living in Malta since 2010, when he left Austria after Vienna prosecutors opened investigations on a double murder he is accused of being linked to. In 2008, a Kazakh court sentenced him to 20 years' imprisonment, in absentia, for his role in the murder of two bankers. Austria however refused to extradite him to Kazakhstan. He was stripped of his diplomatic immunity and forcefully divorced from Nursultan Nazarbayev's daughter. He applied for his Cypriot passport in August 2013. In April 2013 he had his Austrian aliens' passport repealed, following an inquiry by an Austrian ombudsman that found maladministration in the issuance of his passport by the ministry of the interior. He presently avails himself of the right to move freely across the EU through his marriage to a naturalised Austrian citizen, Elnara Shorazova. He lives in Malta under the assumed surname of Shoraz. He has been questioned on the double murder in a Maltese court, by an Austrian prosecutor. And German law enforcement agencies are investigating a case of money laundering against him, which by Aliyev's own admission, has led to a court order to freeze his assets. graph evidence from the FBI proving that Aliyev ordered the hit. The FBI findings had confirmed the Kazakh investigators' conclusions. "The steps taken by the American FBI assisting in this investigation led to results consistent with the findings of the [prosecutor-general] of Kazakhstan. I have met and known Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly and I am extremely pleased that this investigation is complete. I hope the results of this investigation will fi- nally give some peace to the families of those murdered." Sarsenbaiuly and his two associates were found shot to death, executionstyle, in February 2006 near Almaty, the capital. Aliyev was at the time deputy chief of the KNB, the Kazakh national security committee. Secret service 'infiltration' Despite repeated requests, the Maltese police has so far refused to investi- gate complaints by former bodyguards Satzhev Ibraev and Pyotr Afanasenko, who claim they were tortured on order of Aliyev in 2001, and personally beaten by him, to extract a false confession that their boss, former prime minister Akezhan Kazageldin, was plotting a coup against Nursultan Nazarbayev. Aliyev – a surgeon who married Nazarbayev's daughter to become a powerful media tycoon and deputy chief of the Kazakh secret service – said in one of his rare statements to the media that the allegations of torture, which he denies, are part of a "a systematic smear campaign" against him. Aliyev claims that Kazakh secret agents are in Malta to monitor his movements, and possibly kill him and his family. "The Kazakh secret service has long been trying to influence the Maltese courts, the Attorney General and the police force," he said. we're cooling the engines and taking a short break to celebrate this festive season with our families. FBI investigation Aliyev has also been investigated by the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), MaltaToday has learnt. On Friday, the US ambassador to Kazakhstan, John Ordway, revealed that Aliyev could be suspected of having ordered a high-profile political murder in 2006. Kravchenko said that the FBI took part in the investigation led by an investigative group from the Kazakh prosecutor-general's office. Ambassador John Ordway, who appeared with Kazakhstan's deputy prosecutor-general Andrei Kravchenko at a press conference, said that a probe into the murder of opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly had been reopened after prosecutors obtained poly- Our offices and warehouses in Malta and Milan, will be closed on the following dates: 24th December 2013 25th December 2013 26th December 2013 noon onwards full day full day 31st December 2013 1st January 2014 noon onwards full day we wish you a great holiday.