Azerbaijan, Baku, May 3 / Trend E. Kosolapova /
Decisions of the UK Court on the case of Mukhtar Ablyazov will not greatly reduce his popularity among the people of Kazakhstan due to the fact that it is not so high, Kazakh expert and political scientist Andrei Chebotarev told Trend on Thursday.
"I would not say that Ablyazov is very popular among the population. There is certain influence, but, being abroad, he can not fully participate in political processes in the country," the director of the Kazakh 'Alternative' Scientific Research Center, Chebotarev, said.
He noted that all the influence of Ablyazov in Kazakhstan today is through his associates, who have united in organizations Halyk Maidana (Popular Front), Alga, as well as through print media, which is associated with him: the Republic newspaper, the View, and K +channel, which is not broadcasted in Kazakhstan. However, not all supporters of these organizations and the media are the principal supporters of Ablyazov.
"The attitude toward him is ambiguous, because he came to politics from business, and people have always had complicated attitude toward the businessmen who continue to engage both in business and politics. Therefore, his influence is very limited," Chebotarev said.
London's High Court rejected on May 1 an appeal of several companies registered in the Seychelles and the British Virgin that allegedly implicated in the theft of over $1 billion from Kazakh BTA Bank, Bloomberg reported.
In February, 2012 the High Court sentenced Mukhtar Ablyazov to 22 months imprisonment for contempt of court. However, the sentence has not been carried out so far, because his whereabouts has not been established.
The criminal case against Ablyazov was launched in Kazakhstan in early 2009. He is alleged to have conducted great fraud while in charge of the BTA Bank. After the case began Ablyazov fled to the UK claiming asylum against political persecution. In May 2011 the British court refused from recognizing claims that the case was politically motivated and upheld the bank's claims. According to the unapproved information, Ablyazov had left the UK to France.