Today Freedom for Eurasia launches a new report regarding kleptocracy in Central Asia. In Kazakhstan in early January 2022, 227 people were tragically killed when popular demonstrations over gas prices turned into violent riots. Over a year later a former prime minister of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov, was jailed for treason for his apparent role in the unrest. His imprisonment marked an incredible fall from grace for one of Kazakhstan’s most important political figures, one who had spent over eight years as the country’s prime minister.
Many of those who were protesting in January 2022 were rallying against Nazarbayev’s legacy of corruption and kleptocracy – where a country’s leaders siphon off the country’s wealth for personal gain and to maintain power. ‘Napoleon Complex’ examines that legacy by taking a deep dive into the corruption of Massimov, who maintained the kleptocratic system under Nazarbayev while reaping the personal benefits for him and his family. The report analyses never-before-seen documents in order to understand how Kazakhstan’s kleptocracy worked in practice.
