Akylbek Muratbai, an activist of the Karakalpak diaspora, was detained in Almaty on the night of February 15. According to human rights defenders, the arrest is linked to an official request from neighboring Uzbekistan. The Uzbek government had violently repressed a popular protest in July 2022 in the north-western region of Karakalpakstan and many activists had left Uzbekistan in fear of reprisals. Muratbai has lived in Kazakhstan for more than a decade and chronicled pressure on his fellow Karakalpak activists on social media.
When Russia was slapped with sanctions, many looked to Kazakhstan's banks as a way to circumvent restrictions. Kazakh banks have profited, but they are still nervous
When Russia was slapped with sanctions, many looked to Kazakhstan's banks as a way to circumvent restrictions. Kazakh banks have profited, but they are still nervous
ASTANA. KAZINFORM Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has held a meeting in Akorda for discussing the National Bank’s 2022 annual report, Kazinform learned from the President’s press service.
Years ago, journalists focusing on Central Asia raised eyebrows when strange, “foreign” investors poured money into Tashkent City, a real estate development in the middle of Uzbekistan’s capital. When they started pulling that thread, media outlets unraveled a connection between the family of Khabibula Abdukadyr and Kyrgyzstan’s “most corrupt” Raimbek Matraimov. New revelations unveiled by OCCRP, Vlast, Kloop, and RadioOzodlik on April 27 show just how widespread the empire of the Abdukadyr family had become, allegedly through money laundering and under the complacent oversight of Central Asian leaders.