The former head of Rome's flying
squad Renato Cortese and the then head of the capital's
immigration office Maurizio Improta were sent to trial by a
Perugia judge Friday for the alleged abduction of the wife of a
Kazakh dissident, Alma Shalabayeva.
Also indicted were justice of the peace Stefania Lavore and
four police officers barring Laura Scipioni, who was cleared.
Also cleared were three functionaries at the Kazakh embassy
whose diplomatic immunity was recognised.
Prosecutors in February 2017 requested the indictments of
Cortese, Improta, the 5 police officers, the justice of the
peace and the three embassy functionaries for the alleged
kidnapping of Shalabayeva, wife of Kazakh dissident and oligarch
Mukhtar Ablyazov.
Italian police officers allegedly gave photos from a fake
passport seized from Shalabayeva to Kazakh embassy officials who
subsequently used them for the passes for the 2013 deportation
of the woman and her daughter Alua, according to the Perugia
prosecutors.
Furthermore, top cop Cortese, Rimini police chief and
immigration chief Improta and two other officers are suspected
of deliberately failing to identify Shalabayeva as Ablyazov's
wife.
As a result they are under investigation for failing to
perform their duty and falsehood, as well as involvement in
abduction.
Three other police and justice of the peace Stefania Lavore
are also under investigation.
In July 2014 Italy's supreme Cassation Court ruled that
the deportation of Shalabayeva and her daughter was "manifestly
illegitimate".
Italy rescinded the deportation order after the May 31,
2013, expulsion of Shalabayeva and Alua, who were seized in a
nighttime raid and put on a private jet with Kazakh diplomats,
was brought to light.
According to Shalabayeva, some 50 plain-clothes officers
mistreated and verbally abused her and her daughter during the
operation before turning the two over to the government of
Kazakhstan, which has been criticized for human rights abuses.
Ablyazov, who is wanted in Kazakhstan and Russia, is an
outspoken critic of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev.
Kazakhstan claims Ablyazov, a banker, is not a dissident
but an outlaw wanted for a multi-billion-euro embezzlement case
at his BTA Bank.
Shalabayeva and her daughter returned to Italy six months
after their controversial deportation, which caused an
international scandal.
They were able to leave Kazakhstan after the authorities
in Astana lifted restrictions on their movements, following
strenuous lobbying from former Italian foreign minister Emma
Bonino.
"Today I have faith in the Italian judicial system which
is seeking those responsible and I thank the Perugia
prosecutor's office which has been very autonomous and diligent
in its investigations," Alma Shalabayeva told ANSA recently.
"A very serious job has been done to get at the truth
behind the abduction of myself and daughter".
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