The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office is starting the extradition procedure for the suspects in the assassination attempt of the Kazakh journalist and oppositionist Aydos Sadykov. It is about Altai Zhakanbaev and Meiram Karataev.
This is stated in the response of the prosecutorʼs office to Radio Svobodaʼs request.
"The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office is preparing a package of documents to apply to the competent authorities of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the extradition of two people who are suspected of a particularly serious crime," the agency reported.
Prehistory
On June 18, 2024, two people attempted to kill a citizen of Kazakhstan, who has refugee status in Ukraine, in Kyiv.
According to law enforcement officers, both suspects are citizens of Kazakhstan. They left the territory of Ukraine on the day of the attack. However, Ukrainian law enforcement officers informed Altai Zhakanbaev and Meyram Karataev of suspicion of attempted murder.
- Until 2010, Sadykov was the head of the Aktobe branch of the Azat opposition party. For more than 20 years, he has criticized the current president of Kazakhstan Tokayev and his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev. During this time, criminal cases were initiated against him, his car and property were burned, and he was persecuted. In 2010, Sadikov was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of "hooliganism", and was released in 2012. Sadykov and his supporters called the criminal case fabricated. Sadykov was engaged in active social activities, organized protest actions.
- In 2014, the couple moved to Kyiv and received political asylum after a criminal case was opened against Natalia Sadykova in Kazakhstan.