Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. June 20, 2003

CLIMATE CONTROL -- The guilty plea of a former oil company executive in the Kazakhgate scandal (VOD 6/16/03) has refocused international attention on the impact of high-level government corruption on the business climate in the Central Asian republic and its developing energy industry, reports Eurasianet. The massive payoff scheme -- involving over $1 billion in payoffs, bribes, money laundering, secret bank accounts and expensive gifts -- has implicated the Kazakh president and his inner circle; it is the largest investigation in the history of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The defendant, J. Bryan Williams, was charged with tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government in connection with Kazakh energy contracts. http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/business/articles/eav061703_pr.shtml

TORTURE FOR AMNESTY -- When thugs brutally beat investigative journalist Sergei Duvanov last summer, the Nazarbayev government denied having anything to do with it. But the denials -- which no one believed at the time -- won't stick this time. He is in one of Nazarbayev's prisons on trumped up rape charges, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports the rumors that he has been beaten by his jailers "appear to have been confirmed." That comes from Duvanov's lawyer and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Human rights activists were barred from meeting him after hearing about the beatings and prison officials would not take their phone calls, but a later visit by his attorney confirmed the attack. Supporters said he was "beaten on the instructions of the Kazakh authorities" in an attempt to pressure him into asking Nazarbayev for an amnesty, something Duvanov has flatly refused to do, RFE/RL reported. http://www.rferl.org/bd/ka/

SCANDAL IS HIS SPECIALTY -- Nursultan Nazarbayev is the head master at the School for Scandal, otherwise known as the government of Kazakhstan. "Bribery, Scandal Old Hat in Almaty," read the headline on the front page of the Moscow Times. The indictments handed down in New York against President Nazarbayev's close advisor on charges of directing over $60 million in oil payments "into his boss' secret Swiss bank accounts is sending shudders through the global oil industry," reports the Moscow Times, but back in Almaty it's "met by a big 'So what?'" The problem, it seems, is that under Nazarbayev "corruption is so pervasive as to be considered normal," the Russian English-language daily reports. In addition to funneling the cash into Nazarbayev's account, Giffen is reported to have spent $30,000 for mink coats for Nazarbayev's wife and one of his daughters and $80,000 for a presidential speedboat and two presidential snowmobiles. http://www.themoscowtimes.com

NEW YES-MAN NAMED -- The autocratic rule of Kazakhstan has named a new largely-figurehead prime minister, whose main job is taking the blame for what goes wrong. The decisions will continue to be made by the dictator, Nursultan Nazarbayev, but when something goes wrong he will now be pointing the finger of blame at Daniyal Akhmetov, the governor of Pavlodar Oblast. He replaces Imanghali Tasmaghambetov, who was named a state secretary. The new PM said his job is to build "a state governed by the rule of law where everyone has the right to freedom of conscience and expression, but that everyone should work within the law." Numerous international organizations, from OSCE to Human Rights Watch to Amnesty International, have charged that freedom of expression is only for those who agree with the dictator, who puts himself above the law with such things as legislation giving him lifetime immunity from prosecution. http://www.interfax-news.com/, http://www.rferl.org/bd/ka/

For the full stories, see the web citations above or contact us at News@Kazakhstan21.org or see VOD Archives [http://iicas.org/english/enlibrary/libr_16_03_01kp.htm]. The Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation promotes democracy and human rights in Kazakhstan through public affairs and educational programs in the United States and Europe. This material is distributed by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation.