Lawyers of the Italian police officers intend to defend the truth to the end

The trial of a group of police officers who detained Kazakh citizen Alma Shalabayeva with a fake passport of the Central African Republic in 2013 continues in Italy. Despite the apparent crime, the Kazakh woman, who is the wife of fugitive oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov, was able to obtain asylum in the West for unknown reasons, and moreover, apparently continues to sue Italian police officers who were simply doing their duty.

In the court of first instance, five policemen were sentenced by the Perugia court to terms from 4 to 5 years for the alleged illegal arrest of A.Shalabayeva, but in the court of second instance on June 9, 2022, they were acquitted with the wording "absence of the fact of a crime."

The whole story began with an attempt to arrest M.Ablyazov, whose activities at the head of a large bank in Kazakhstan are the subject of criminal investigations in the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Russia.

The former banker is charged with a number of offenses, including fraud, forgery of documents, and abuse of authority. The amount of damage caused by Ablyazov is estimated at several billion dollars.

The case against him was initiated in 2009, after which the banker fled Kazakhstan and lived in the UK for a long time but was forced to flee this country.

On May 29, 2013, Italian law enforcement agencies conducted a special operation in a house in the suburbs of Rome, where, according to their information, the international criminal M. Ablyazov could be hiding.

"Ablyazov himself was not in the specified house, but his wife Alma Shalabayeva was found there, who presented to the Italian law enforcement authorities a fake passport of the Central African Republic issued in the name of Ayan Alma," the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said.

Meanwhile, the Kyrgyz authorities have caught a group of people who produced fake passports with the appearance of Ablyazov. Two passports were issued in Kyrgyzstan: the first in the name of Nurdin Bekovich Osmonov, the second in the name of Murat Salievich Zhamalov, the State Registration Service of Kyrgyzstan reports.

For violating migration laws, the Italian authorities initiated the process of deportation of A.Shalabayeva to Kazakhstan. They returned to Kazakhstan on June 1 of the same year.

Meanwhile, the Italian Republic later decided to cancel the deportation of Alma Shalabayeva and her daughter to Kazakhstan.

Moreover, cases have been initiated in Italy against police officers who performed their official duties.

Despite the acquittal of the court in June 2022. In October 2023, the Court of Cassation overturned them, appointing a new trial in the Florence Court of Appeal. The new verdict was handed down in November of this year. Unfortunately, it again completely failed the police.

It should be noted that one of the policemen who detained Alma Shalabayeva, Renato Cortese (pictured), received the prestigious Valarioti Impastato National Award in 2021.

This award was established as a tribute to the memory of two victims of the violence of the "Sicilian" mafia — Giuseppe Valarioti and Peppino Impastato.

The prestigious award is awarded annually in Italy to "the best crime fighters and promoters of a culture of legality who, with courageous determination and an unshakeable conscience, fight organized crime in various spheres of society."

It is no coincidence that Cortese, as one of the main actors in the capture of various mafia fugitives, received such a prestigious award.

Cortese was Palermo's crime commissioner from 2017 until mid-October 2020. Before becoming a commissioner, the Italian anti-mafia fighter tracked down and arrested the bosses of one of the most powerful crime syndicates in the world, the 'Ndrangheta.

In Sicily, together with his subordinates, R. Cortese arrested such major criminals as Gaspare Spatuzza, Enzo and Giovanni Bruschi, Pietro Aglieri, Benedetto Spera and Salvatore Grigoli. But the most coveted prey, undoubtedly, remains the godfather of Cosa Nostra, Bernardo Provenzano, caught after 43 years of inactivity.

"We are shocked by the outcome of the trial. We will get acquainted with the justification of the verdict and will definitely appeal it to the Supreme Court, as we are deeply convinced of the complete innocence of the defendants," said Bruno Ando, lawyer for police officer Maurizio Improta.

At the same time, the situation with the fake passports of M.Ablyazov's wife in the name of a citizen of the Central African Republic is not the first such scandal in her life...

According to the Kazakh KTK TV channel, in June 2013, in the city of Atyrau, a whole group of criminals from among the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan was convicted, who for money issued fake passports to Ablyazov's closest relatives when they were physically absent in Kazakhstan.

Three migration police officers were jailed for 7 and 9 years.

Two more of their colleagues were released under amnesty. And the former Registry office employee, who sincerely repented, was given two years of probation. The investigation revealed that the company had issued 8 passports to Ablyazov's children, wife and other relatives.

According to the investigation materials, Alma Shalabayeva entered into a preliminary conspiracy with Zharimbetov Zhaksylyk, who was hiding from the investigative authorities in London, so that with the help of employees of the Registration Service Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, he issued her and her children new foreign and domestic passports of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Alma Shalabayeva handed over 16,000 US dollars to Zhaksylyk Zharimbetov, which he, in turn, handed over to officials in Kazakhstan to produce fake passports.

The Atyrau City Court found that the following passports were illegally obtained: Shalabaev Syrym, Shalabaeva Zhanna, Shalabaeva Aigul, Shalabaev Salim, Shalabaeva Alma (spouse), Ablyazov Madiyar (son), Ablyazov Aldiyar (son) and Ablyazova Alua (daughter).

The corrupt officials were jailed, and Ablyazov's family was able to safely travel abroad.

Today, Mukhtar Ablyazov lives peacefully in France, having received the status of a "political refugee."

In Kazakhstan, Ablyazov is accused of embezzling 7.5 billion dollars. In addition, in November 2018, a Kazakh court sentenced an ex-banker to life in prison in absentia after he was found guilty of organising the murder of the former chairman of the board of a credit institution, Yerzhan Tatishev.

The lawyers of the Italian Carabinieri are confident that the Italian Supreme Court will stand up for their clients, who valiantly performed their duty in the fight against document fraud and illegal migration.

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