An Austrian court has refused a Kazakh request to extradite President Nursultan Nazarbayev`s former son-in-law accused in the Central Asian state of kidnapping and illegal business, a spokesman for the Austrian Prosecutor General`s Office said Thursday.

Gerhard Yarosch said the decision was taken because Rakhat Aliyev "cannot be guaranteed a fair hearing" in Kazakhstan.

Aliyev, who recently divorced Nazarbayev`s eldest daughter, Dariga Nazarbayev, was Kazakhstan`s ambassador to Austria before being fired May 26.

The son of a former health minister, Aliyev is wanted in Kazakhstan for allegedly organizing a group of raiders who illegally seized land and real estate. He is also accused of abducting two top managers of the country`s leading bank Nurbank, where he was a co-owner.

Aliyev recently insisted in an interview with Austrian weekly Profil that the charges against him were trumped up on orders from Nazarbayev, and said that if he were extradited, his life would be in danger.
sections: Society, World News