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Authorities in Central Asia Warn Against Terrorist Recruitment

Uzbekistan's Interior Ministry has issued a warning over increased instances of calls to commit terrorist acts spread via social media and messenger apps. Citizens are being implored to booby-trap public places - including shopping and entertainment centers, schools and other places of mass gathering - for large sums of money. Besides the promise of money, extremists are offering to provide weapons and send a plan of action - while the provocateurs often won't take no for an answer. The anonymous instigators - as a rule, there is no photo or number in the profile - often write with similar appeals to children and teenagers, intimidating them with fabricated stories such as having all of that person's data and personal information. "In case you receive this kind of message, please do not panic and do not send them to public chat rooms, to your acquaintances and friends, but immediately report it to the internal affairs authorities on the number 102. Block the senders and do not enter into correspondence or conversations with them," the Interior Ministry said in a statement. "There is a Cybersecurity Center within the structure of the interior agencies, which is engaged in monitoring and identifying individuals and channels spreading calls for unlawful acts. Special divisions have been created within the operational and investigative department of the internal affairs bodies, which are also engaged in activities to identify terrorist threats on the World Wide Web and punish attackers," Shokirjon Hashimov, spokesman for the operational and investigative department of the Uzbek Interior Ministry, told The Times of Central Asia. The Uzbekistan TV channel reported on the detention of a group of extremist students, who were plotting terrorist attacks in several locations in Tashkent. The attackers, who were planning to carry out a terrorist attack in the spring of 2022, were discovered in February 2021. The young men carefully thought out a plan of action and chose the Israeli embassy in Tashkent or the murder of U.S. and Chinese citizens at the capital's international airport as the target of their planned attacks. After committing the terrorist acts, the boys intended to move to Syria via Turkey, or to Afghanistan via Surkhandarya. Over the course of the investigation, explosives were found at the suspects' homes. The court sentenced them to between 10 and 15 years in prison. Calls for vigilance can also be heard in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, where through social networks and dating sites, attackers are trying to recruit young people to carry out terrorist attacks in Russia. "The representative office of the Ministry of Labor, Social Security and Migration of Kyrgyzstan in the Russian Federation warns that through social networks and popular messengers such as Telegram, there is active recruitment of citizens, including underage children, to participate in terrorist acts in Russia," the press service of the ministry reported.

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Video of Beating of Saltanat Nukenova on the Day of Her Death Presented in Court

At the fourth court session on April 3 of the murder case of Saltanat Nukenova, a video was presented which depicts the moment of her beating on the day of her death. The video shows former Minister of the National Economy, Kuandyk Bishimbayev, delivering several blows to Nukenova's head area after they went up to the second floor of a restaurant at 7:17 a.m. on November 8, 2023. The video also shows Nukenova falling to the floor after the blows, and then Bishimbayev begin kicking her in the buttocks area. He then lifted her up by the hair and once again hit her hard in the head. These events were described by the prosecutor, Aizhan Aimaganova at the trial. "He hit her again. She fell down again. Then he lifted the latter by the hair and dragged her to stall number one. Further, at 8:08am, Bishimbayev left the stall with a bare torso, took alcohol from the bar and returned again. At 9:27 a.m. Bishimbayev exited again with his bare torso into the common area and returned within a minute. At 9:58, Baizhanov arrived at the restaurant," the prosecutor said. The victim's lawyers asked the jury to pay attention to the fact that on the video recording Saltanat Nukenova tried to stay away from Bishimbayev and behaved calmly, even when the ex-minister pressed her against the wall and hit her. The defendant's lawyers stated that Bishimbayev was just "stroking" Nukenova's face. In response, the victim's side expressed indignation. The court session ended with the announcement that the next session is scheduled for April 4 at 10:00.

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Uzbek-born Billionaire Alisher Usmanov Takes On German Prosecutor

Uzbek-born Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has filed a complaint alleging a violation of his rights by officers of the General Prosecutor's Office in the German city of Frankfurt am Main. A criminal case has been opened against two prosecutors, according to the newspaper Bild. In 2022 Usmanov was accused of money laundering, prompting law enforcement to search a villa linked to him on Lake Tegernsee in Germany, an apartment near Frankfurt am Main, and a yacht, Dilbar, which was then moored at the port of Bremen. In 2023, a Frankfurt am Main court ruled that the authorities' actions were illegal. The court ordered the return of property confiscated during the search, but this has not been fulfilled. Currently, a preliminary investigation is underway as per Usmanov's complaint. According to Statista, Alisher Usmanov ranked eighth among Russian billionaires in 2023, with a net worth estimated at $14.4 billion. He has been under EU sanctions since 2022, and is suspected of money laundering and tax evasion. Usmanov appealed the EU sanctions, saying they will lead to the bankruptcy of major Russian companies in which he holds large stakes - MegaFon, Metalloinvest and Udokan Copper, noted The Wall Street Journal. The U.K. had until recently imposed restrictions on the billionaire's sisters, Saodat Narzieva and Gulbahor Ismailova, and his adopted son, Nathan (Anton) Wiener, before these were removed in 2022. It was reported that several accounts in the Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, with assets in excess of $2 billion, were at one point registered under Narzieva's name. According to Usmanov, in the near future he intends to step down from his positions in business, and engage further in philanthropy.

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Trial of Former Minister Bishimbayev Charged with Murdering Wife Begins

On March 27, the trial of former Minister of the Economy, Kuandyk Bishimbayev, who is accused of murdering his wife, Saltanat Nukenova, began in Astana. A live broadcast of the trial was available on the YouTube channel of the Supreme Court. Preliminary hearings in the case against former Minister, Kuandyk Bishimbayev had begun on March 11, with the indictment being read out and the defense filing a motion asking for a jury trial. In court yesterday, the prosecutor, Aizhan Aimaganova read out a long list of injuries sustained by Nukenova as revealed during her autopsy: "Closed craniocerebral trauma, multiple abrasions, facial bruising, splinter fracture of the nasal bones, wounds to the chin area, hemorrhage in the soft tissues of the face, head, and occipital area, and acute subdural hematoma. When analyzing Nukenova's internal organs, no narcotic, medicinal or psychotropic substances were found," Aimaganova added. "Kuandyk Bishimbayev is accused of causing physical and mental suffering by means of systematic beatings or other violent actions committed against a person who was financially dependent on the perpetrator," the prosecution stated. Following the prosecutor's speech, the judge asked the defendant for his plea, to which Bishimbayev replied “not guilty” before explaining the reasons for his response. "I didn't have a chance to tell my story at the pre-trial investigation, not anywhere. At all. Everything read out by the prosecutor are largely fabrications, for which there is no confirmation or evidence. According to Article 110, I have not committed such a crime at all. Therefore, I do not admit my guilt," Bishimbayev stated, adding that he hoped for an opportunity to express himself thoroughly. To the next count, namely article 99, part 2, paragraph 5, "Murder committed with particular cruelty," Beshimbayev also pled not guilty, stating that "I did not commit the premeditated murder of a human being with particular cruelty." Also in court accused of concealing a serious crime, Bakhytzhan Baizhanov, the director of BAU's Gastro-center where the crime allegedly took place, said he was not sure if he had committed this crime. "I confess that I asked to delete the video recordings [from the surveillance cameras] and asked to take Saltanat's phone home [to hide the geolocation]. I don't know if I committed a crime. At that time, I didn’t know whether Saltanat was dying or dead," Baizhanov said. The next session in the case is scheduled for March 29. What Bishimbayev is accused of: Article 110, part 2, paragraph 1, item 1 of the Criminal Code: "Causing physical and mental suffering by systematic beatings with violent actions committed against a person who is materially dependent on the perpetrator"; Article 99, part 2, paragraph 5: "Murder committed with particular cruelty"; Article 14, paragraph 2 - according to the prosecution's version, Bishimbayev's actions are considered a dangerous recidivism of this crime. The law states that “Dangerous repetition of crimes shall be recognized as commission by person.”

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Former Kyrgyz Official Matraimov Extradited in Connection with Assassination Plot

According to statements issued by the special services of Kyrgyzstan, former deputy head of the customs service Raimbek Matraimov is connected with assassins who recently came to Bishkek from Azerbaijan to assassinate members of Kyrgyzstan's leadership. On March 23 Kyrgyz law enforcement became aware that the wanted Matraimov was in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital. The State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan (CNSK) sent a letter to the Azeri authorities with a request to detain and extradite him. In Baku this request was fulfilled. Matraimov's brothers were also detained and flown to Kyrgyzstan, the CNSK reported. The investigation into Matraimov alleges that his clan once had its own people in virtually all government agencies, including the police, prosecutor's office, and parliament, where an entire political party worked on his behalf. Matraimov's group had enormous resources, and numerous levers of influence over the authorities. The 2020 coup d'état in Kyrgyzstan was carried out in part because Matraimov's party won the elections. As a result, those elections were deemed as corrupt, and subsequently voided. Matraimov was put on an international wanted list on January 26. He was charged in absentia under two articles of the Kyrgyz criminal code: illegal imprisonment and legalization of criminal proceeds. As The Times of Central Asia has previously reported, on March 22 in the center of Bishkek authorities detained members of a transnational criminal group, who came to Bishkek from Azerbaijan to assassinate the Kyrgyz political leadership. Kyrgyzstan's special services believe that Matraimov is linked to the criminals and is involved in organizing the assassination attempt. It was also reported that the former official was extradited with the aid of a government board of Kyrgyz authorities.

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Man with Kyrgyzstan Links Among Suspects in Moscow Attack

A man originally from Kyrgyzstan is among the suspects detained in the attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed about 140 people, according to media reports. The man, identified as Alisher Kasimov, allegedly rented an apartment to men who carried out the attack on the Crocus City complex on Friday night. He appeared in court on Tuesday and did not show signs of having been beaten or tortured, as was the case with some other suspects. Videos circulating on social media showed a distraught woman purported to be Kasimov’s mother. In the videos, the woman says Kasimov is innocent and that he did not know that he was renting an apartment to people who were plotting an attack. Kasimov denounced his Kyrgyz citizenship in favor of Russian nationality in 2014. Several migrant laborers from Tajikistan were charged with terrorism Sunday night for their alleged role in the devastating assault with rifles and explosives. The attack has focused attention on the large number of Central Asian migrants living – often in grim conditions – in Russia, as well as the possible vulnerability of some of them to recruitment by extremist groups. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Crocus City killings. Russia has tried to assign blame to Ukraine and the West, without offering evidence.