In this photo, our daughter Madina is 10 months old. At that time, we lived in a dormitory in the village of Alatau (the Institute of Nuclear Physics). Our nine metre room was very damp, with a single, nailed-up window. In the evenings, mice often ran through the room, evoking mad delight in my daughter.

Mukhtar Ablyazov with his wife - Alma Shalabayeva and children - Madiyar, Aldiyar and Alua.

Does Spain have any relations with oil-rich Kazakhstan? Few months earlier, a number of media outlets reported that, Mariano Rajoy, the Prime-Minister of Spain, signed a 6-billion-US.-dollars contract with dictator Nazarbayev to construct a railway infrastructure in Kazakhstan.

The wife of the Kazakh politician, Mukhtar Ablyazov, made a statement to the press. It has been almost six months since the beginning, of perhaps, the most scandalous story connected with the deportation of family members of a political opponent of the President of Kazakhstan from Rome. Throughout this time, Alma Shalabayeva and her youngest daughter, Alua, have been held under house arrest in Almaty.

Tatiana Paraskevich is a former colleague of opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov. She currently faces highly dubious criminal cases, instituted against her in Ukraine and the Russian Federation on charges of financial crimes. The plaintiff in the proceedings against Tatiana Paraskevich is Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank, although, according to Tatiana, she has never worked for the bank.

Left to right: Maria Paraskevich and Maria Grigorieva, the daughter and mother of Tatiana Paraskevich, with Lyudmyla Kozlovska, president of the Open Dialog Foundation.

Mukhtar Ablyazov: On his experience in Kazakhstan's prison camp (March 2002 - May 2003)

Allegations of torture and humiliation have been made by inmates in Kazakhstan.

Alma Shalabayeva will be sentenced to imprisonment, and her 6-year-old Alua Ablyazova will be sent to an orphanage.

The recent scandal, connected with the deportation from Italy of Alma Shalabayeva, the wife of the former head of the Board of Directors of Kazakhstan's BTA Bank, Mukhtar Ablyazov, and their 6-year-old daughter Alua, poses a threat of depriving the country of its government.

The committee members are extremely surprised by the actions of the Italian authorities. The main question that arose when considering the circumstances of the incident was: Why were Alma Shalabayeva and her child deported to Kazakhstan, and not to Latvia from which they have a residence permit.

"An investigation which would clarify the events and identify possible performance bottle-necks, should be carried out" – that’s how the Italian government has responded to the story of the overturned decision relating to the extradition of the wife and daughter of the opposition Kazakh banker, Mukhtar Ablyazov, from the country.

Civil society activists from five cities in Kazakhstan stood up for the family of Mukhtar Ablyazov. From the morning, they picketed near the building of the Italian Embassy in Astana. With posters reading: ‘Shame on the Italian justice system’ they managed to stand there undisturbed for no more than an hour.

Excerpts from an interview with human rights defender Yevgeniy Zhovtis about the kidnapping of Ablyazov’s family from Italy

Excerpts from an interview with the politician and civil society activist Amirzhan Kosanov about the kidnapping of Ablyazov’s family from Italy.

Kazakh film director, Bolat Atabayev, condemns the kidnapping of the wife and daughter of Mukhtar Ablyazov, which was organised by the special services of Kazakhstan.

The official authorities of Kazakhstan have admitted responsibility for the kidnapping of Ablyazov’s family.

The member of the Council for Promotion of Development of Civil Society and Human Rights Institutes of the President of the Russian Federation, Svetlana Gannushkina speaks about the violations of the EU principles of deportation during the rendition of Ablyazov’s family from Italy.

A poet and film director, Yerbol Zhumagulov speaks about the kidnapping of the wife and daughter of Mukhtar Ablyazov.

Polish deputy Tomasz Makowski talks about the deportation of Alma Shalabayeva and her daughter Alua.

Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomarev stated that Italy has made a serious mistake, having marched to the tune of the Kazakh authorities.

Petr Silaev is a well-known Russian anti-fascist activist. Petr was suddenly arrested further to a request circulated by Moscow prosecutors via INTERPOL's channels. He was held for eight days in a high-security prison and spent six months unable to leave Spain while the courts considered an extradition request from Russia, which was eventually rejected on the basis that it was politically-motivated. Fair Trials International is now seeking to have Petr's name deleted from INTERPOL's databases.

Interview with Mukhtar Ablyazov. The political future of Kazakhstan.

Interview with Mukhtar Ablyazov. About the resorts of President Nazarbayev.

Mukhtar Ablyazov on Nazarbayev’s Letter.

The government’s counterstroke to Mukhtar Ablyazov’s statements