/EIN News/ From the 16th to the 20th of June the human rights activist from Kazakhstan, Armangul Kapasheva, stayed in the capital of Germany, hoping to get assistance in the so-called “Aliyev’s case”, the case of the former ambassador of Kazakhstan in Austria, who got political asylum in Vienna 2 years ago. Notwithstanding that he was sentenced to b 40 years of imprisonment for crimes with kidnappings and murders among others, he securely lives in Vienna. Armangul Kapasheva is the wife of one of Rakhat Aliyev’s victims. Her husband, a top-manager of one of the largest banks of Kazakhstan, disappeared together with his colleague without leaving a trace in January 2007, right after their meeting with Rakhat Aliyev, who then was all-powerful son-in-law of Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Since then Kapasheva has been struggling to discover the fate of her husband. She keeps going to Europe indefatigably, trying to gain attention and compassion of the Europeans, telling them her story. Until now, as explained by Kapasheva, efforts she took were left in vain: both in Vienna where Aliyev still enjoys himself at his grand villa under protection of Austrian authorities, and in London where, as rumors say, he is preparing a new asylum, far from possible new investigation of his case. In 2008 Kapasheva created the “Tagdyr” (“Fate”) foundation together with other family members of alleged Rakhat Aliyev’s victims. Members of this fund set a goal: to make the European court try Aliyev and at least this way to know something about their relatives. According to Kapasheva’s, they don’t mean to dispute the Vienna court decision that Aliyev shouldn’t be extradited to Kazakhstan, for there no one can promise an impartial trial for the former secret service general convicted of grave crimes. The “Tagdyr” members are not interested in Aliyev’s return to Kazakhstan. Armangul Kapasheva stresses that all that she wants is to find her husband and bring him back home, or at least to bury him according to the tradition, if he is murdered. She wanted to take a chance and prove the Europeans that Rakhat Aliyev is not at all a “dissident” or a “leader of opposition”, as he himself claims.
This time – and this is her third visit to Europe – Kapasheva visited Berlin. Here in the capital of the country that is now holding a “year of Kazakhstan”, the chairman of the “Tagdyr” made a new attempt to reach public attention. She met human rights activists and members of Bundestag, lawyers and journalists. Kapasheva had an opportunity to get advice from one of the most well-known human rights activists and lawyers, secretary-general of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), Wolfgang Kalek. He received her in his new office in Berlin (Mrs. Kapasheva has become his first foreign guest in this office) and talked to her for over two hours. Later Kapasheva told in her interview that an advice she got from doctor Kalek was very specific, and for the first time she felt hope that the “Aliyev’s case” can make progress. She was heartily accepted in Bundestag as well, where she met with ombudsman of the left wing, Michael Loitert. He accepted the bill that the “Tagdyr” members sent to the German parliament and promised to follow it up.
At the closing press-conference on the 19th of June Armangul Kapasheva thanked the Berlin citizens who lend her assistance. “I’ve never been welcomed so heartily, as in Germany, – she said – Now I have hope that all our efforts were not in vain. Thank you, everyone who lend us a helping hand. We keep on struggling”.
