Brussels refusing to enter into Aliyev controversy

The European Commission is limiting itself from intervening in criminal investigations across Europe into Rakhat Aliyev, the Kazakh exile who is being hunted down by the his former father-in-law Nursultan Nazarbayev, the dictator of Kazakhstan.

Aliyev, formerly an ambassador and once deputy head of the Kazakh secret service, is known to be living in Malta although he recently applied to become a naturalised Cypriot citizen.

The Commissioner for justice, freedom and security Cecilia Malmström this week told the European Parliament that the EC was aware, through media reports, of the investigations conducted against Rakhat Aliyev, notably related to money laundering.

"While the facts investigated may have cross-border elements or even a European dimension, the EU has no competence to conduct criminal law investigations," she said in a reply to a question from Portuguese socialist MEP Ana Gomes.

Gomes asked the Commissioner whether the investigations into money laundering, corruption and white-collar crime against Aliyev could be accelerated if EU bodies such as Eurojust and Europol are consulted.

"Member states' legislation still differs significantly when it comes to the definition of money laundering and to the level of criminal sanctions for this offence. The Commission is currently considering proposing changes to the existing legal framework on Anti-Money laundering," Malmström said.

"While the Commission follows developments in member states in general terms and looks into how cooperation is functioning in cross-border cases in practice, the Commission is not monitoring individual investigations."

Aliyev has been questioned in Malta by Austrian prosecutors investigating his alleged role in the murder of two bankers in Astana, Kazakhstan. He has already been sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment by a Kazakh court but Austria has refused to extradite him to a country where his rights would not be respected.

Aliyev also faces a money laundering inquiry by German investigators, while human rights campaigners have been incessantly calling on the Maltese police to investigate him.

The two former bodyguards of Akezhan Kazageldin, the former Kazakh prime minister, claim they were tortured personally by Aliyev in a bid to extract a false confession that they were plotting a coup against dictator Nazarbayev, back in 2001. Despite repeated requests, the Maltese police have so far refused to investigate complaints by Satzhev Ibraev and Pyotr Afanasenko and the Maltese courts have also concurred with the Attorney General that the police has no competence in the matter.

Aliyev, 52, left Austria in 2010 to set up base in Malta. 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 applied for his Cypriot passport in August 2013.

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.