Monthly Archive

As the ex-mayor of Almaty, Kazakhstan, battles allegations that his family systematically looted hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds, a U.S. magistrate approved sanctions Monday against th... read more..

As Internet penetration grows in the country, so do the government’s attempts to monitor, control and repress dissenting voices. As Internet penetration grows in the country, so do the government’s... read more..

Multiple breaches of worldwide freezing orders (WFOs) in contempt of court can form the basis of an action for damages caused by 'unlawful means' conspiracy, the UK's highest court has confirmed. T... read more..

Muratkhan Tokmadi was sentenced March 16 to 10 1/2 years in a maximum-security prison for murdering the chair of the BTA Bank Yerzhan Tatishev during a hunt in 2004. It is the second verdict in the ca... read more..

 A court in the United States has ruled in favour of a Moldovan businessman seeking to enforce a $520 million arbitration award against Kazakhstan. The businessman, Anatolie Stati, has already read more..

On the surface, the Kazakh town of Aksu looks like a Communist stereotype. Its metals factory is the biggest in the world and for generations it has provided residents with employment, healthcare, edu... read more..

Facebook and Telegram have been malfunctioning since an opposition movement was labelled extremist. Communications authorities in Kazakhstan have revealed that their efforts to delete online materi... read more..

Frontmen of foreign shell companies that are used to hide the true ownership of some of London’s most expensive properties could face up to two years in jail and unlimited fines under new government p... read more..

Russia and other authoritarian states are gaming the system to go after dissidents. The poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter in Salisbury, England, earlier this month isn't j... read more..

Built in the style of a French chateau, with a palatial roofline rising high over the River Thames, Whitehall Court is one of Britain’s grandest private buildings. The imposing Victorian pile, whic... read more..

Now that Vladimir Putin has dispensed with the formalities of reclaiming presidential authority, Kremlinologists can focus on the more substantive question of how Russia’s paramount leader intends to ... read more..

The convictions close the book on corruption and murder trials that have exposed the rot within the system. Two high-profile criminal trials in Kazakhstan — one for murder and the other for corrupt... read more..

Democracies need different rules of engagement with authoritarian regimes. “I know very well that right now some are trying to isolate Cuba. We Europeans want to show, on the contrary, that we are ... read more..

Russian President Vladimir Putin may be running for reelection as an independent candidate, at least officially — but his electoral campaign is wholly funded by the ruling United Russia party and 22 a... read more..

A scandal involving fraud, racketeering and theft that features ties to President Donald Trump and a notorious Cyprus bank is playing out in a Los Angeles federal court, where a former Kazakhstan poli... read more..

Lawmakers in Kazakhstan have approved an agreement allowing the United States to use two of the nation’s Caspian Sea ports as transit points for shipping nonmilitary material to Afghanistan. By gai... read more..

New rounds of litigation add to the opaque case of fugitive ex-Kazakh minister Mukhtar Ablyazov – writes Stephen M. Bland. With the ninth anniversary of his flight from the authorities in his homel... read more..

Two homes worth £22 million and owned by a foreign tycoon today became the first to be targeted using a new law to tackle “McMafia” style criminals in Britain. The National Crime Agency said that t... read more..

As temperatures plummet to sub-zero and over a thousand people sleep rough on London’s streets, Who Owns England can reveal the Mayfair mansion that’s been empty for 14 years. Moreover, it transpir... read more..

The accused is a star of one of Kazakhstan's most-vaunted success stories: the Bolashak scholars program. Sometimes a corruption case is about more than just the corruption. The downfall of Kuandyk... read more..

Provide Medical Treatment, Ensure Justice for Abuse Kazakh authorities should provide immediate medical assistance to a detained businessman who has alleged that he was beaten and ill-treated, the ... read more..

The wife of one of Vladimir Putin’s former cronies has given the Conservative Party £30,000 to dine with Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson. The donation by Lubov Chernukhin, who is married to a fo... read more..

Bemused skeptics say the video and subsequent arrests seem like a convoluted set-up designed by security services to jail dissidents. Three men in plain white face masks gaze into the camera as the... read more..

The UK will force people owning property worth more than £50,000 (US$70,000) who have suspected links to organized crime or are vulnerable to graft as a result of their political position to explain w... read more..

The global renown of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal made his involuntary detention in early November at Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel one of the biggest single shocks of Saudi Arabia’s anti-corru... read more..

Cheering supporters greeted Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal when he arrived at his skyscraper offices in Riyadh after his release from detention in an anti-corruption crackdown. ... read more..

Kazakhstan’s long-heralded stability is being challenged by growing economic problems, societal frustrations, and rising nationalism.   Key Points Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev... read more..

Jared Genser’s firm described Iskander Yerimbetov as “a hostage” of the Kazakh state who had been subjected to torture. U.S. based human rights lawyer, Jared Genser, announced this week that his fi... read more..

Despite what you might gather from recent reports, democracy is not “in crisis” because Russia (a country facing a massive HIV epidemic) or China (a country facing huge looming demographic problems) h... read more..

Even with its economy still recovering from the collapse of oil prices in 2014 Kazakhstan is laying the groundwork for a self-sufficient domestic arms industry that may soon export its wares. In Decem... read more..