ASTANA -- A date has been set for the retrial of a former top Kazakh official found guilty of ordering a high-profile murder.
A court in Almaty announced on January 8 that the retrial of Erzhan Otembaev, former chief of Kazakhstan's parliamentary apparatus, will begin on January 10.
Otembaev was found guilty of ordering the murder of opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly (aka Sarsenbaev) and two associates in 2006 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The Kazakh Prosecutor-General's Office announced last month that the case had been sent for revision after newly obtained evidence pointed to Rakhat Aliev, the former son-in-law of President Nursultan Nazarbaev, as having ordered the hits.
Aliev, who was deputy chief of the National Security Committee when the murders took place, has been living in self-imposed exile in Europe since 2007.
A court in Almaty announced on January 8 that the retrial of Erzhan Otembaev, former chief of Kazakhstan's parliamentary apparatus, will begin on January 10.
Otembaev was found guilty of ordering the murder of opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly (aka Sarsenbaev) and two associates in 2006 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The Kazakh Prosecutor-General's Office announced last month that the case had been sent for revision after newly obtained evidence pointed to Rakhat Aliev, the former son-in-law of President Nursultan Nazarbaev, as having ordered the hits.
Aliev, who was deputy chief of the National Security Committee when the murders took place, has been living in self-imposed exile in Europe since 2007.
