Shalabayeva has not requested to leave Kazakhstan: official

Alma Shalabayeva, the wife of the exile Kazakhstan banker Mukhtar Ablyazov, has not yet applied to the law-enforcement authorities for a permit to leave Kazakhstan, Tengrinews.kz reports citing the official representative of Kazakhstan General Prosecutor’s Office Nurdaulet Suindikov. “Ms. Shalabayeva has been under a recognizance to not leave Almaty since June 1. This means that she is not eligible to leave Almaty without the investigator’s consent. She is not limited in any of her other rights. If she wants to go outside of Almaty, including abroad, she should apply to the investigator and he will consider the request. As far as I know, she has not made any such requests so far,” Suindikov said. On May 31 Alma Shalabayeva and her daughter Alua were deported by the Italian authorities for illegal stay in Italy with fake Central African passports and one and half months later the Italian authorities suddenly decided to reverse their deportation order. After that incident two Italian parties expressed outrage to Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano and the Ministry’s Chief of Staff Giuseppe Procaccini resigned. Ablyazov’s wife and daughter are currently under recognizance not to leave Almaty. Shalabayeva is involved in the separate case on forgery of Kazakhstan passports by her husband’s relatives. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan authorities said that Shalabayeva may be allowed to return to Italy. Mukhtar Ablyazov accused of embezzlement of $6 billion from BTA Bank was arrested on July 31 not far from Cannes. He was apprehended under the extradition request of Ukraine. By Baubek Konyrov