![Alma Shalabayeva with her daughter. Photo courtesy of uralskweek.kz](/userdata/news_en/2014/news_255147/thumb_b/photo_42178.jpg)
Supreme Court of Cassation in Italy has ruled that the deportation of Alma Shalabayeva and her 6-y.o. daughter Alua to Kazakhstan was illegal, Tengrinews reports citing RIA Novosti.
Alma Shalabayeva, the wife of Kazakh tycoon and former head of BTA bank Mukhtar Ablyazov, and the couple's daughter were deported from Italy on 31 May last year. Before this, the Italian police carried out a special operation at their villa near Rome in an attempt to arrest Ablyazov. However, the banker managed to flea from the country shorty before this, whereas his wife and daughter were immediately put on a plane to Kazakhstan by the decision of the Italian magistrate.
The Court of Cassation considered the claim made by Alma Shalabayeva against the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Italy and the appeal to protest the decision of the magistrate. It ruled that she should not have been deported in the first place. The judges concluded that the Italian authorities had violated her right to seek protection and asylum. The night police operation was ruled unmotivated, and documents presented by Shalabayeva were found sufficient for her to stay in the country.
As a result, Italy's highest court recognized Shalabayeva’s right to demand a compensation for the unlawful actions of the police that resulted in deprivation of her of personal freedom. This ruling is also a legal basis for Shalabayeva's residence in the Apennines.
Last year, the “Shalabayeva case" turned into a big political scandal in Italy. The parliament even started questioning trustworthiness of its Interior Minister Angelino Alfano.
Supreme Court of Cassation in Italy has ruled that the deportation of Alma Shalabayeva and her 6-y.o. daughter Alua to Kazakhstan was illegal, Tengrinews reports citing RIA Novosti.
Alma Shalabayeva, the wife of Kazakh tycoon and former head of BTA bank Mukhtar Ablyazov, and the couple's daughter were deported from Italy on 31 May last year. Before this, the Italian police carried out a special operation at their villa near Rome in an attempt to arrest Ablyazov. However, the banker managed to flea from the country shorty before this, whereas his wife and daughter were immediately put on a plane to Kazakhstan by the decision of the Italian magistrate.
The Court of Cassation considered the claim made by Alma Shalabayeva against the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Italy and the appeal to protest the decision of the magistrate. It ruled that she should not have been deported in the first place. The judges concluded that the Italian authorities had violated her right to seek protection and asylum. The night police operation was ruled unmotivated, and documents presented by Shalabayeva were found sufficient for her to stay in the country.
As a result, Italy's highest court recognized Shalabayeva’s right to demand a compensation for the unlawful actions of the police that resulted in deprivation of her of personal freedom. This ruling is also a legal basis for Shalabayeva's residence in the Apennines.
Last year, the “Shalabayeva case" turned into a big political scandal in Italy. The parliament even started questioning trustworthiness of its Interior Minister Angelino Alfano.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Italy canceled its decision to deport Shalabayeva on July 12, 2013, two and a half month after the actual deportation took place. All this time she had been staying in Almaty at her parents' under a restriction to leave the city.
The law enforcement agencies of Kazakhstan changed this restraint to collateral obligations in December the same year after Rome had sent its appeal. Soon thereafter the Italian Embassy issued a Schengen visa to Shalabayeva and on December 27 she and her younger daughter flew to Rome. They swiftly left Italy for Switzerland, where Ablyazov's eldest daughter resided.
In April this year Shalabayeva and her younger daughter received Italian political refugee status.
By Dinara Urazova