It is very much likely that the deputy head of the Kazakh secret service Rakhat Aliyev left Malta on a private plane, Inspector Raymond Aquilina told the Court of Magistrates.
The Inspector also said that the main airlines operating from Malta had ruled out that any member of Aliyev's family had used their services to travel to or from the island. "However I have information that Aliyev always travelled by private jet leased from a foreign country. Moreover, no records of his movements are kept as he is married to a resident of the EU".
Meanwhile questioned about the whereabouts of Aliyev, international journalist Alexander Narodetsky told investigators that it is so obvious that neither Aliyev nor his wife were in Malta, that "even little kids knew it".
Taking the witness stand in a challenge filed by state bodyguards Satzhev Ibraev and Pyotr Afanasenko, Inspector Raymond Aquilina gave details about inspections carried on residences belonging to or having been previously leased to Rakhat Aliyev or his wife Elnara Shorazova.
The two claim they were tortured on Aliyev's orders of Aliyev in order to extract a false confession that their boss, former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazageldin, was plotting a coup against Aliyev's father-in-law, Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Inspector Aquilina gave details of his meeting with international journalist Alexander Narodetsk and said that journalist had in the past years resided in an apartment at pender place which was leased to Shorazova.
"I knew he had very strong ties with Aliyev's family, because it was he who had accompanied Aliyev and his wife to my office. Recently, Narodetsky called at my office on voluntary basis and I asked him of Aliyev's whereabouts", Inspector Aquilina said. However the journalist replied that even a little boy could tell him Aliyev was no longer in Malta. "I have checked an address at Triq il-Pont, Mellieha, where Aliyev resided in 2012.
Checks were also carried out at his Madliena residence, and at apartments in Pender Gardens and Fort Cambridge, all with negative results. However I met the person who maintains the residences in Aliyev's absence and he confirmed he had last seen him in person in July 2013. The same person also confirmed he had last seen Shorazova last September", the inspector said.
At the Madliena residence the police found a dog in good health conditions. "There were also indications that people are residing there – possibly Sharazova's mother and grandmother".
Further investigations led the police to believe that a number of residences are in the process of being placed on the market for lease or sale. The apartment at Fort Cambridge is neither finished nor furnished.
At the end of the sitting both the prosecution and the defence declared they have no further witnesses to present concerning the issue of jurisdiction. However Dr Donatella Frendo Dimech, on behalf of the AG declared that the documents submitted by the defence are inadmissible because they do not follow procedure. The defence claimed he could regularise his position in two days.
Magistrate Aaron Bugeja, gave the defence two weeks to file their submissions and re-exhibit the documents. The court will continue hearing the case on May 19th . Dr. Joseph Giglio is appearing for Mr. Aliyev.
independent.com.mt
