A court in Kazakhstan's capital, Nur-Sultan, has placed a nephew of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev in pretrial detention for two months after he was detained on charges of embezzlement and abuse of power.
The interdistrict special investigative court in Nur-Sultan announced its decision on March 15, two days after Kairat Satybaldyuly was placed into custody on the charges.
Satybaldyuly's detainment came as Nazarbaev appeared in public for the first time in over two months when he attended a diplomatic conference in Turkey and held talks with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Olzhas Bektenov, chief of Kazakhstan’s anti-corruption agency, told reporters on March 14 that the 51-year-old Satybaldyuly was detained as he attempted to leave Kazakhstan for Turkey.
SEE ALSO: Behind High Walls: The Nazarbaev Family's 'Hidden' Luxury Real Estate In AlmatyNazarbaev, 81, resigned as president in 2019, picking longtime ally Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev as his successor. But he retained sweeping powers as head of the powerful Security Council, enjoying almost limitless powers as elbasy (leader of the nation). Meanwhile, many of his relatives continued to hold important posts in the government, security agencies, and profitable energy groups.
In January, protests that started over a fuel price hike spread across Kazakhstan because of discontent and anger over the cronysim that had long plagued the country. Toqaev subsequently stripped Nazarbaev of the security council role, taking it over himself.
Just days after the protests, Nazarbaev's two sons-in-law, Qairat Sharipbaev and Dimash Dosanov, were pushed out of top jobs at two major state companies, QazaqGaz and KazTransOil, respectively.
Sharipbaev is widely known to be married to Nazarbaev’s eldest daughter, Darigha. Dosanov is the husband of Nazarbaev's youngest daughter, Aliya.
The National Chamber of Entrepreneurs, Atameken, announced the resignation of its chairman, Timur Kulibaev, who is also Nazarbaev's son-in-law.
On February 25, Darigha Nazarbaeva said she was giving up her parliamentary seat.
Toqaev has publicly said that he wanted Nazarbaev's associates to share their wealth with the public by making regular donations to a new charity foundation.