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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000184 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2020 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM SOCI KDEM KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  PRESIDENT'S SON-IN-LAW TRIES, BUT FAILS, TO 
MUTE CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS 
 
REF: A) 09 ASTANA 1762 
 B) ASTANA 119 
 C) 09 ASTANA 1761 
 
Classified By: Charge d' Affaires, a.i. Pamela Spratlen:  1.4 (b), (d) 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Timur Kulibayev, the President's influential 
son-in-law and Deputy Chairman of the National Welfare Fund Samryk 
Kazyna, sued four independent newspapers for publishing articles 
alleging that he received major kick-backs from the Chinese for oil 
contracts signed in 2003-05.  The court initially sided with 
Kulibayev, ordering on February 1 the confiscation of all print runs 
that carried the story and placing a ban on any other articles 
insulting Kulibayev's honor and dignity.  It reversed its ruling on a 
technicality after an outcry from civil society leaders and criticism 
from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) 
Representative on Freedom of the Media.  Ousted, self-exiled chairman 
of Bank Turam Alem (BTA) bank Mukhtar Ablyazov is the source of the 
corruption allegations.  The Financial Police opened an investigation 
into Ablyazov's allegations on February 11.  END SUMMARY. 
 
KULIBAYEV SUES FOR LIBEL 
 
¶2. (SBU) Timur Kulibayev, President Nazarbayev's influential 
son-in-law and Deputy Chairman of National Welfare Fund 
Samryk-Kazyna, filed a libel suit on February 1 against four 
newspapers -- "Respublika," "Golos Respubliki," "Vzglyad," and 
"Kursiv" -- after they published a story accusing him of corruption. 
An Almaty district court, acting with uncharacteristic swiftness on 
the same day, ordered the confiscation of all print runs containing 
the story and placed a ban on future stories that "insult the honor 
and dignity" of Kulibayev.  The order was immediately delivered to 
the four newspapers, as well as to other independent news outlets and 
newspaper stalls across the country. 
 
ABLYAZOV IS THE SOURCE 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The source of the offending story was a letter to media 
outlets from Mukhtar Ablyazov, the ousted and self-exiled chairman of 
the Bank Turam Alem (BTA) bank who fled the country following 
accusations of embezzlement and financial fraud (ref A).  In the 
letter, Ablyazov accused Kulibayev of pocketing a portion of the 
proceeds from the sale of a government stake in a Kazakhstani oil 
company to the China National Petroleum Company (ref B) in 2003. 
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Ablyazov has documents 
proving Kulibayev's illegal machinations.  Ablyazov's accusations 
appeared in the media at the same time as a story that Dinara 
Kulibayeva, Kulibayev's wife and Nazarbayev's daughter, bought a 
luxurious villa in Switzerland for a record 74 million Swiss franc 
(approximately $68.4). 
 
CONDEMNATION FROM CIVIL SOCIETY 
¶4.  (SBU) The court order caused an uproar in civil society.  Chief 
editors and journalists of the four newspapers held press conferences 
condemning the court decision as an attempt to "completely 
exterminate independent media in Kazakhstan."  Editor-in-Chief of 
independent newspaper "Svoboda Slova," Gulzhan Yergaliyeva, called on 
the Supreme Court to reverse "this shameful ruling."  Political 
opposition parties also joined in the protests.  The Ak Zhol party -- 
seen by some as an opposition party closest to the government -- 
released an unusually harsh statement criticizing "this selective 
justice" for "creating a cast of untouchables in Kazakhstan and 
further legalizing corruption."  International NGOs Freedom House and 
the Committee to Protect Journalists publicly urged the courts to 
rescind "the unacceptable gag-order," declaring that "censorship has 
no place for the chair of the OSCE."  On February 8, Miklos Haraszti, 
the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, released a statement 
condemning libel lawsuits in Kazakhstan (as well as Tajikistan and 
Hungary) as "dangerous attempts at censorship." 
 
JUDICIAL MISTAKE 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The first inklings that not all in the government agreed 
with the Almaty court ruling appeared on February 8.  The Chair of 
the Supreme Court, Musabek Alimbekov, told journalists that the 
Almaty judge "may have made a mistake.  Judges are human," he said, 
"and humans make mistakes."  Alimbekov noted that any potential 
judicial mistake would have to be addressed in a court of higher 
instance.  General Prosecutor Kairat Mami also said that his office 
was looking into a case of possible judicial malfeasance, based on a 
 
ASTANA 00000184  002 OF 002 
 
 
complaint from several journalists. 
 
GAG-ORDER RESCINDED 
 
¶6.  (SBU) On February 9, the court rescinded its own ruling to ban 
articles that "insult (Kulibayev's) honor and dignity."  The ruling 
was based on a technicality -- the judge ruled that Kulibayev did not 
follow proper pre-trial procedures for libel cases when he failed to 
ask the newspapers to print a retraction before filing suit.  Civil 
society activists greeted the verdict as a temporary victory, but did 
not exclude the possibility that the President's powerful son-in-law 
will find other ways to squelch the story in independent media.  In 
her ruling, the judge said she would consider the plaintiff's demand 
for a public apology only if the media outlets refuse to publish a 
refutation. 
 
MORE TO COME? 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Meanwhile, Ablyazov continued his campaign against 
Kulibayev.  On February 8, he announced that he sent proof of 
Kulibayev's embezzlement to the Prosecutor General's Office, the 
parliament, and political parties.  He also claimed to have sent 
letters to several leading businessmen in Kazakhstan urging them to 
share any information on Kulibayev's wrong-doings, and publicized an 
email address (mukhtar.ablyazov@gmail.com) to which people could send 
complaints against Kulibayev.  Activists of the Alga opposition party 
-- widely believed to be financed by Ablyazov -- made several 
attempts to publicly deliver Ablyazov's letter to the parliament in 
Astana.  On two separate occasions, the group was detained by the 
police for organizing an unsanctioned rally.  On February 11, 
Kazakhstan's State Agency for Fighting Economic and Corruption Crimes 
(Financial Police) announced that it received Ablyazov's letter and 
launched an investigation into the case. 
 
¶8.  (C) COMMENT:  Ablyazov's allegations have started a flurry of 
guessing games about the state of play in the power games among the 
Kazakhstani elite.  Most independent political analysts agree that 
Ablyazov must have received the incriminating evidence from a third 
party -- either Rakhat Aliyev, Nazarbayev's exiled former son-in-law, 
or someone high enough in Kazakhstan's power echelons to have access 
to this kind of information.  Some allege that Ablyazov is the front 
man for interests in the oil industry that want to diminish 
Kulibayev's far-reaching influence in the energy sector.  Others 
speculate that this is a power play from one of the rival political 
clans (ref C).  All agree, however, that this case is all about power 
and control.  It is also an important test of freedom of expression 
in Kazakhstan.  The fact that the court rescinded its gag-order is a 
positive sign, and here the strong statement from OSCE's Haraszti 
certainly played a role.  However, as civil society activists point 
out, the judge's ruling leaves open the possibility for Kulibayev to 
take further legal action if the newspapers refuse to print a 
retraction.  We will continue to watch closely how these power games 
play out.  END COMMENT. 
 
SPRATLEN