KAZAKHSTAN: WIFE OF DISAPPEARED BANKER FIGHTS FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000266

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL, H

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PROP KCRM KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: WIFE OF DISAPPEARED BANKER FIGHTS FOR
RAKHAT ALIYEV'S EXTRADITION

REF: A. O'MARA-HOAGLAND FEBRUARY 13 EMAIL

B. 09 ASTANA 0065

C. 08 ASTANA 2457

D. 08 ASTANA 2450

E. 08 ASTANA 2445

F. 08 ASTANA 2362

Classified By: Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland, 1.4 (b)/(d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Armangul Kapasheva, the wife of a missing
banker whom Rakhat Aliyev allegedly ordered killed, told us
on February 6 that she believes her husband is still alive
and that Aliyev knows his whereabouts. She reported that she
had given testimony in Austria in the latest "investigation"
against Aliyev. Kapasheva asked us whether Aliyev is under
the protection of the U.S. "special services" and whether he
is seeking U.S. political asylum. She intends to travel to
the United States soon and hopes to increase pressure on the
Austrians to extradite Aliyev to Kazakhstan. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) We met on February 6 in Almaty with Armangul
Kapasheva, wife of the missing Nurbank manager Zholdas
Timraliyev. Timraliyev disappeared in February 2007 along
with another Nurbank official, Aybar Khasenov, and it is
widely believed that the two bankers were kidnapped and
subsequently murdered on the order of Rakhat Aliyev,
President Nazarbayev's former son-in-law. Aliyev, along with
a group of his associates, the so-called "Group of 16," were
tried in absentia in March 2008 and found guilty of
kidnapping, extortion, fraud, and organizing a criminal
group. Aliyev remains in self-imposed exile in Austria; in
2007, Austrian authorities denied Kazakhstan's request for
his extradition on the grounds that he could not expect a
fair trial in Kazakhstan. Kapasheva recently formed an NGO,
the Taghdyr Human Rights Foundation, with the declared goal
of getting Aliyev extradited to Kazakhstan. She told us that
she recently returned from Vienna, where Austrian authorities
have resumed their investigation into Aliyev's case.
Kapasheva was uncertain about the details, but told us that
Austrian prosecutors requested her testimony in order to
determine whether to pursue a "formal investigation."


3. (C) Kapasheva initially struck us as sensible and
reasonable, but it became clear in the course of our
conversation with her that her husband's disappearance has
had a powerful impact on her, and her grief sometimes pulls
her in seemingly contradictory directions. She
wholeheartedly believes that her husband is still alive -- a
belief she bases on her "consultations with several psychics"
-- and that Rakhat Aliyev is the only person who can reveal
his whereabouts. Her first question to us was whether Aliyev
is under the protection of U.S. "secret services" and
whether there is any truth to the rumors that he is
attempting to get political asylum in the United States.
(NOTE: Kapasheva is not the only one to give credence to such
rumors; in December, the Presidential Administration head
Aslan Musin raised the same questions with the Ambassador
(ref D). END NOTE).


4. (C) We reassured her that we have no contact with Aliyev
and would not like to see him in the United States, though we
are not certain she believed us. She railed at the Austrian
authorities for "protecting such a monster," but, in the same
breath, ruminated that it may be good for Aliyev to get
asylum because he "would feel safe enough to tell me where my
husband is." Kapasheva shared that both she and her
husband's father traveled to Vienna several times and
unsuccessfully tried to meet with Aliyev to convince him, "on
a human level," to reveal her husband's whereabouts.


5. (C) Kapasheva told us that she plans to go to the United
States to "publicize her story" to government officials
(including Secretary Clinton),the media, and human rights
NGOs, in the hopes of increasing pressure on Austria to
extradite Aliyev. She said she reached out to the office of
Senator McCain and asked for suggestions of other "people of
influence."


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6. (C) COMMENT: We should continue doing our best to avoid
getting entangled in the Aliyev affair -- which President
Nazarbayev sees as an existential issue. Both sides -- the
government and Aliyev -- seek to manipulate us to their own
advantage, and the family members of the missing bankers are
perhaps being used by the government to strengthen its hand.
In fact, because Aliyev has hired Western (including U.S.)
lawyers and public relations firms, we suspect we are seeing
dueling PR efforts. Both sides know which Western buttons to
push -- Aliyev the "corruption" of his ex-"Godfather-in-law,"
and the government the "human rights" button. Aliyev's
extradition is, in fact, a matter between the Austrian
government and judicial system and the Kazakhstanis, and we
have no role to play in it. Our involvement in the case can
only fan false suspicions that we are protecting Aliyev. We
will continue to meet in Kazakhstan with the families of the
missing bankers at the working-level, if they request future
meetings, and recommend that the Department agree to meet
with them at a level no higher than office director. END
COMMENT.

HOAGLAND