Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. ·Sept. 19, 2002

KEEPING UP WITH THE SULTANS -- Nothing is too expensive for the man who can afford to hide a billion dollars in a secret Swiss bank account. That’s why Nursultan Nazarbayev felt he could afford to give President Bush a $10,000 ornately trimmed saddle. It is the most expensive western-style gift the Texas-born president has received from any foreign leader, according to the State Department. Bush is not about to toss his fancy new saddle on the back of his favorite horse and go for a ride; instead, it will go into storage at the National Archives with the four other saddles, five pairs of cowboy boots, three western belts and various other lavish gifts world leaders have given him. http://www.chron.com/

NAZARBAYEV FRAMEUP BACKFIRES ­Nursultan Nazarbayev’s attempts to frame his former prime minister, Akezhan Kazhegeldin, on charges of stealing from the state treasury “backfired” when Swiss Central Bank investigators found the trail led directly to the Kazakh dictator himself, according to “Nations in Transit 2002,” a study of democracy and human rights in Central Asia by Freedom House International. Swiss “authorities discovered suspicious multi-million dollar transfers into accounts suspected of belonging to Nazarbayev” and some of his relatives and advisors. Swiss Bank officials “failed to find any evidence” of wrong-doing by Kazhegeldin, the report added. www.freedomhouse.org/research/nattransit.htm

ANTI-TERROR PACT REJECTED -- Kazakh dictator Nazarbayev has refused to sign a major international anti-terrorism agreement, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Quoting a member of the Kazakh Parliament, RFE said Nazarbayev demanded the removal of a provision of the International Convention Against Financial Support that would “allow foreign countries to interfere” with some banking operations “protecting individuals' secrets and personal data, as well as state secrets.” Nazarbayev’s refusal was announced on Sept. 11, two days after he lost a court battle in New York when a federal judge ordered him to turn over similar information. Nazarbayev’s obsession with bank secrecy is not unrelated to investigations by Swiss and American banking authorities into charges of bribery, corruption and money laundering by the dictator and some of his inner circle; his Swiss accounts have been frozen. http://www.rferl.org/bd/ka/

PROPAGANDA WARS -- Nazarbayev has “waged an intensive propaganda war” against Kazhegeldin since 1998, when the ex-PM was barred “on spurious grounds” from challenging Nazarbayev in that year’s presidential elections, Freedom House reported. The U.S. and other governments condemned Nazarbayev for barring the only viable candidate and refused to recognize the election. Kazhegeldin was forced to flee for fear of his and his family’s safety, and from his exile he has been leading “a credible opposition” through the Republican People’s party of Kazakhstan (RNPK),” which he established in 1998, according to the report. RNPK includes prominent public figures and is widely respected and influential in Europe and America. As a result, it notes, “Nazarbayev has found himself on the losing end of a propaganda war waged in the international arena by a coalition of opposition forces” led by Kazhegeldin. www.freedomhouse.org/research/nattransit.htm

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