Austrian prosecutor questions former Kazakh ambassador in Malta

The former son-in-law of Kazakhstan's ruler has been reportedly interrogated by an Austrian prosecutor in Malta, over his alleged role in a double murder, according to euractiv.de.

Rakhat Aliyev, 49, who lives in self-imposed exile in Malta, was formerly the Kazakh ambassador to Austria before he was stripped of his position and immunity by Kazakhistan's president-for-life Nursultan Nazarbayev. Aliyev, who was married to Nazarbayev's eldest daughter Dariga until their divorce in 2007, was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison for kidnapping Zholdas Temiraliev and Aybar Khasenov by a Kazakhstan court.

The bodies of the two bankers were later found in 2011 on the site of a factory in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Aliyev has denied the charges, responding on his blog Rakhat.org that evidence against him had been fabricated.

The Austrian government has so far resisted extradition requests for Aliyev by Kazakhstan's government, which has a poor human rights record.

According to the Austrian press, prosecutor Bettina Wallner travelled to Malta to conduct the interrogation.

According to euractiv.de, diplomatic sources claimed Aliyev travels on an Austrian passport under the surname Shoraz, after marrying a former employee of the Kazakh embassy in Vienna. While the Austrian ministry for the interior denied issueing a passport for either Aliyev or Shoraz, the chief administrator for Horn, in Lower Austria, who allegedly issued the passport, told euractiv.de the information was confidential.

The European Union's agency for justice coordination Eurojust is now commissioned to examine the accusations made against Aliyev, especially with regards to cross-border jurisdiction.

The charges against Aliyev stem from his involvement in one of Kazakhstan's largest financial institutions, Nurbank. As a main shareholder, Aliyev was implicated in the abduction of two senior bank officials. Following a criminal investigation, Kazakhstan's government also opened a money-laundering case against Aliyev.

In a book Aliyev wrote on Nazarbayev, entitled 'Godfather-In-Law', the entrepreneur accused the Kazakh ruler of being behind the murder of former Kazakh ambassador to Russia Altynbek Sarsenbayev.

German MEP Elmar Brok, former chairman of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, has even sent a letter requesting information on Aliyev's permanent in Malta to foreign minister Tonio Borg.