Kazakhstan Consul General arrested in Germany

Consul General of Kazakhstan in Frankfurt am Main Akhat Alpysbayev. Photo courtesy of Russian Voyage magazine.

Consul General of Kazakhstan in Frankfurt am Main Akhat Alpysbayev has been arrested in Germany, Tengrinews.kz reports citing Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister. 

German Bild cited the Customs Investigation Office as saying that the arrest warrant was issued over "allegation of organized importation of untaxed cigarettes." 

Consul General Akhat Alpysbayev, 53, was arrested at night on August 27 in Frankfurt. He was brought to a police detention center shortly before midnight and then brought before a judge in the afternoon the next day, August 28. 

Bild reported that Consul Kairat Adyrov, 36, was also arrested over the same allegations. 

"We herewith confirm that a representative of our General Consulate in Frankfurt was arrested. I would like to emphasize that Kazakhstan and Germany are cooperating in a broad range of areas including prevention of crime and smuggling. We are now working in this particular direction with our German coleagues to find out all the circumstances of the incident," the official representative of the Foreign Ministry Zhanbolat Ussenov said.

"All the decisions on the matter, including the decision on application of disciplinary measures, will be taken after we get a detailed idea of the situation," he continued.

German authorities have declined to comment the arrest as the investigation process has not been completed yet.

For more information see:http://en.tengrinews.kz/crime/Kazakhstan-Consul-General-arrested-in-Germany-22250/
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