Court clears man accused of plotting Kazakh spy boss' kidnap
AFP
VIENNA - An Austrian man accused of attempting to kidnap the ex-head of the Kazakh secret service has walked free from court after judges in Vienna on Friday ruled there was insufficient evidence in the case.
The accused, known only as Ildar A., had been on trial for the attempted abduction of exiled Kazakh spy boss Alnur Musayev in the Austrian capital in 2008.
Ildar A. must, however, hand over his passport to Austrian authorities and inform them immediately if he changes his address.
He still faces charges of bribing police officers to illegally obtain the whereabouts of Rakhat Aliyev, the former son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Like Musayev, Aliyev took refuge in Austria and the two men were close friends.
Musayev had been head of the Kazakh secret service (KNB) from 1997 to 2001, while Aliyev, who had extensive dealings in the world of politics and business, had been deputy foreign minister and then ambassador to Austria.
In March 2008, a Kazakh military tribunal sentenced both men in absentia for an attempted coup.
But the 46-year-old former deputy foreign minister always maintained his innocence and claimed he was the victim of a political witch-hunt designed to crush his chances of running in the 2012 presidential elections.
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