Mukhtar Ablyazov, leader of the opposition movement Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, based in France, has called on US and EU leaders to impose sanctions on the Kazakh leadership and to “stop doing business” with his home country. He announced this in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, adding that he considers himself the main enemy of both the Kazakh authorities and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ablyazov rejects suggestions that the protest movement in Kazakhstan is inspired from the outside, and believes that the mass protests that have continued in the republic since the first days of January are a truly popular revolution. He assures that he is in constant contact with the protesters, who ask him for advice.
Mikhail Ablyazov, the ex-head of BTA Bank and the former head of the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan, left Kazakhstan after a criminal case was opened against him. The extradition of Ablyazov, who was put on the international wanted list through Interpol, was sought by three countries – Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. In 2017, Ablyazov, found guilty of creating and leading a criminal community and stealing funds from BTA Bank and their illegal legalization, was sentenced in absentia in Kazakhstan to 20 years in prison with confiscation of property, and a year later he was sentenced for participation in organizing the murder of a Kazakh financier Yerzhan Tatishev to life imprisonment.
Source: Rosbalt
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