Slain Kazakh Opposition Figure's Son Gets Government Job

Kayrat Nurkadilov

ASTANA -- The son of a late Kazakh opposition figure has been appointed to an Almaty City administration post on the eve of the anniversay of his father's mysterious death, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Kayrat Nurkadilov was named the chief of the Almaty City Housing Department on November 11.

His father, Zamanbek Nurkadilov, was a close associate of President Nursultan Nazarbaev for many years but in 2004 became an active opponent of the president.

He was found shot dead in his house in Almaty on November 12, 2005.

Although he had two bullet wounds in his chest and one bullet wound in his head, his death was officially announced as a suicide.

Unlike previous years, Kazakh opposition leaders and activists did not mark Nurkadilov's death, which they consider to have been murder.