OPINION:
Wednesday’s Page One article “Political exile fears wrath of Kazakh leader” was largely misinformed, full of inaccuracies, and elevated the profile of a convicted criminal and human rights violator.
The subject of the article, Rakhat Aliyev, is a fugitive of Kazakh justice who has been convicted of a long list of charges, including the kidnapping and torture of Abilmazhin Ghilimov, the former chairman of the board of Nurbank, and his deputy, Zholdas Timraliyev. Rakhat Aliyev has been properly and legally tried and sentenced to 20 years in prison for these crimes in Kazakhstan.
The article was unbalanced in that it provided only one side of the story in relation to Mr. Aliyev. The readers of The Washington Times deserve to know the whole truth behind this criminal.
Your story does much to malign Mr. Aliyev’s victims and the professional corps of government officials and civil servants who serve Kazakhstan and strive for our nation´s reform and modernization.
ERLAN IDRISSOV
Ambassador of Kazakhstan
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