The Kazakh president's former son-in-law says several agents from Kazakhstan's Committee for National Security (KNB) will go on trial in Austria next month, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.
Rakhat Aliev, the former Kazakh ambassador to Austria, said that the defendants-to-be tried last year to kidnap him and his former colleague, Alnur Musaev, in Vienna and to forcibly take them to Kazakhstan.
Aliev has been living in self-imposed exile in Austria since 2007. He was tried last year in absentia in Kazakhstan and found guilty of kidnapping, extortion, and treason and given a 40-year jail term.
Aliev, who once served as the KNB's first deputy chairman, claims the charges against him are politically motivated.
Musaev, who also lives in Europe, led the KNB for many years and is also wanted by Kazakh officials for alleged financial misdeeds.
Aliev also told RFE/RL that the Austrian parliament is expected to start hearings into alleged attempts by the Kazakh secret service to influence parliament members so they would vote to extradite him and Musaev to Kazakhstan.
The Austrian government has refused Kazakh requests to extradite the two men, saying it could not guarantee they would receive a fair trial.
Kazakhstan will chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is based in Vienna, in 2010.
Rakhat Aliev, the former Kazakh ambassador to Austria, said that the defendants-to-be tried last year to kidnap him and his former colleague, Alnur Musaev, in Vienna and to forcibly take them to Kazakhstan.
Aliev has been living in self-imposed exile in Austria since 2007. He was tried last year in absentia in Kazakhstan and found guilty of kidnapping, extortion, and treason and given a 40-year jail term.
Aliev, who once served as the KNB's first deputy chairman, claims the charges against him are politically motivated.
Musaev, who also lives in Europe, led the KNB for many years and is also wanted by Kazakh officials for alleged financial misdeeds.
Aliev also told RFE/RL that the Austrian parliament is expected to start hearings into alleged attempts by the Kazakh secret service to influence parliament members so they would vote to extradite him and Musaev to Kazakhstan.
The Austrian government has refused Kazakh requests to extradite the two men, saying it could not guarantee they would receive a fair trial.
Kazakhstan will chair the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is based in Vienna, in 2010.
