(Reuters) – Kazakhstan’s anti-corruption body has detained a nephew of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, it said on Sunday, the latest in a series of moves against his family.
Nazarbayev, 81, resigned as president in 2019 but retained sweeping powers as the head of the security council and the leader of the ruling party, and backed then-ally Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as successor.
In January, protests over a jump in fuel prices turned violent in several major Kazakh cities, and Tokayev stripped Nazarbayev of the security council role, taking it over himself.
Nazarbayev then handed over the ruling party leadership role to Tokayev as well, while a number of the former president’s relatives left or were sacked from prominent positions in the government and state companies.
Kairat Satybaldy, whose detention was announced on Sunday, is a former deputy head of state security turned businessman. The anti-corruption service said his detention was linked to an embezzlement probe at communications operator Kazakhtelecom.
Nazarbayev appeared in public for the first time in over two months this week as he flew to a diplomatic conference in Turkey whose main event was talks between Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers.
(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
