The Shalabayeva affair

Issue 2/2020

Abstract. The trial against some state police officers and officials and a justice of peace who are accused of illegally provoking the expulsion and repatriation of Mrs. Alma Shalabayeva and her daughter Alua began a few months ago in Perugia. The paper describes the genesis and development of the facts that led to the trial.

SUMMARY: 1. The genesis of the story: Mukhtar Kabulovich Ablyazov and his fall out of favor. – 2. The events that led to the expulsion of Alma Shalabayeva and his daughter Alua. – 2.1. The nighttime raid on the Casal Palocco villa. – 2.2. The events immediately following the raid. – 2.3. Shalabayeva’s reaction and consequential measures. – 3. The version of the interior and foreign ministers. – 3.1. The interior minister’s version. – 3.2. The foreign minister’s version. – 4. The version of Mukhtar Ablyazov and Alma Shalabayeva. – 5. The subsequent amendments to the status of Alma Shalabayeva and her daughter Alua and the outcome of the appeal in cassation. – 6. Additional data of interest. – 6.1. Warnings about human rights violations in Kazakhstan. – 6.2. ENI’s presence in Kazakhstan. – 6.3. The role of S.I.R.A. INVESTIGAZIONI SRL. – 6.4. Bolat Seraliyev’s conditions the day after the raid on Casal Palocco. – 6.5. Urgent interpellation no. 2-01193 of the deputy Manlio Di Stefano and the clarifications of the undersecretary of state Gianpiero Bocci. – 6.6. The proposal to establish a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the expulsion and repatriation of Alma Shalabayeva and her daughter. – 6.7. The position taken by SIULP. – 7. The Perugia investigation and its current state. – 8. The current fate of the people involved in the criminal trial. – 9. Few conclusive reflections.

To read the Reflection, click on “open file”.

To download the documents mentioned in notes 46 and 47, click here.

The recording of the hearings of Perugian criminal proceeding, subject of this Reflection, is available on this page of Radio Radicale website.