A senior civil servant in Italy has resigned over the wrongful deportation of the wife and daughter of a leading Kazakh opposition figure.
The Italian government admitted on July 16 that police were wrong to arrest Alma Shalabaeva and send her back to Kazakhstan along with her 6-year-old daughter.
Italy’s government said Interior Minister Angelino Alfano had not been informed of the deportation order until it had been carried out.
His chief of staff, Giuseppe Procaccini, took the blame and quit late on July 15.
Procaccini reportedly heeded a request from Kazakhstan’s ambassador in Italy to "go after" Mukhtar Ablyazov -- Shalabaeva's husband -- who is wanted by Kazakh authorities on charges of fraud.
Ablyazov is a former banker and energy minister who was granted political asylum in Britain after he turned against Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev.
The Italian government admitted on July 16 that police were wrong to arrest Alma Shalabaeva and send her back to Kazakhstan along with her 6-year-old daughter.
Italy’s government said Interior Minister Angelino Alfano had not been informed of the deportation order until it had been carried out.
His chief of staff, Giuseppe Procaccini, took the blame and quit late on July 15.
Procaccini reportedly heeded a request from Kazakhstan’s ambassador in Italy to "go after" Mukhtar Ablyazov -- Shalabaeva's husband -- who is wanted by Kazakh authorities on charges of fraud.
Ablyazov is a former banker and energy minister who was granted political asylum in Britain after he turned against Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev.
