Azerbaijan, Baku, August 1 / Trend E. Kosolapova/
Kazakhstan's Embassy in Paris does not have any information about the arrest of fugitive Kazakh oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov, the embassy's spokesman told RIA Novosti.
Earlier media outlets reported referring to Ablyazov's lawyer that the former banker was arrested on Wednesday in the French city of Cannes. According to unconfirmed information Ablyazov was arrested on Russia's request.
Ablyazov is also wanted by Kazakhstan's authorities on fraud and embezzlement charges while he was heading Kazakh BTA Bank. After the criminal investigation was launched in early 2009 Ablyazov fled to the UK claiming an asylum against political persecution. In May 2011, the British court refused to recognize claims that the case was politically motivated and upheld the bank's claims. In February, 2012 the UK High Court sentenced Mukhtar Ablyazov to 22 months of imprisonment for contempt of court. However, the sentence has not been carried out so far, because his whereabouts has not been established. Moreover, according to some Kazakh media outlets and officials, Ablyazov had a direct relationship to the mass riots in the city of Zhanaozen on December 16, 2011 when at least 14 people were killed.
In late May the wife of the fugitive oligarch Alma Shalabayeva, and their six-year-old daughter were detained in a overnight raid in Italy. They were rushed onto a private jet with Kazakh diplomats and flown back to Kazakhstan.
UN human rights experts have condemned this deportation and called on Italian authorities to facilitate the return of Alma Shalabayeva, and her daughter to Italy.