Murdered Kazakh Activist Buried in Kyiv

Family members and supporters of Kazakh opposition figure Aydos Sadykov gathered on the outskirts of Kyiv on Friday to bury the activist, who was shot near his apartment building in the Ukrainian capital.

Natalia Sadykova attended the funeral ceremony for her husband, whose death she blamed on Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Sadykov, a member of an opposition party, was an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government and had reported with his wife on alleged corruption in the Central Asian country.

“The final resting place of Aydos Sadykov, the love of my life, the father of our three children. You gave your life for the freedom of Kazakhs,” Sadykova said on social media. 

At the cemetery, Sadykov's coffin was draped with the flags of both Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

The prominent activist died in Kyiv nearly two weeks after being shot by two Kazakh citizens who then escaped to Moldova, Ukrainian prosecutors said. 

The prosecutors said they would reclassify the crime as a contract killing with prior conspiracy by a group of people.

Shortly after the murder, Tokayev said Kazakhstan was ready to take part in the investigation.

Kazakhstan later detained one of the suspects after he turned himself in to police, and Ukraine said it would seek extradition.

But the chairman of Kazakhstan's Senate said it would not agree to an extradition request.

Sadykov and his wife had fled Kazakhstan in 2014 after officials opened a criminal case against Sadykova for slander – an offense that was decriminalized in 2020, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). 

In Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, police barred activists from attending a memorial ceremony, Radio Azattyk reported. 

The assassination of the outspoken critic had provoked outrage, including from HRW.

“The news of the attack on Sadykov during broad daylight in the Kyiv city center is deeply disturbing,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.