Prominent Kazakh opposition blogger shot dead in kyiv nearly two weeks ago

Sadikov’s widow again blames Kazakh president for opposition figure’s murder

2 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Prominent Kazakh opposition blogger Aidos Sadikov died on Tuesday after nearly two weeks in hospital after being shot several times in the Ukrainian capital kyiv, his widow Natalia Sadikova confirmed.

“Aidos Sadikov left us today at 3:00 a.m. kyiv time,” Sadikova said in a message on her Facebook account. “My dear husband, father of our three children, great son of the Kazakh people. Aidos gave his life for Kazakhstan and suffered martyrdom at the hands of his killers,” she said.

He stressed that “for thirteen days, Aidos fought for his life in intensive care, but a miracle did not happen,” while again pointing the finger at Kazakh President Kassim Jomart Tokayev for what happened. “His death is on Tokayev’s conscience,” he concluded.

On June 19, Sadikova reported that her husband had been shot while he was sitting next to her in their car, prompting Reporters Without Borders (RSF) to express concern about “a possible assassination attempt orchestrated” from Kazakh territory and to call on the Ukrainian authorities to clarify the incident.

The NGO expressed its condolences to Sadikov’s family on Tuesday for the death of the opposition figure and insisted on its social network X account that “those responsible and those who instigated this atrocious murder must be found and brought to justice.”

Sadikov was sentenced to two years in prison for “hooliganism” in 2010, when he was an activist who organised numerous protests. After his release from prison in 2012, he and his wife began running a YouTube channel criticising the country’s authorities.

In October 2023, the Kazakh courts issued a warrant for his support for the January 2022 protests. It is noteworthy that his latest video, published a day ago, is titled “The President of Kazakhstan has become a puppet of Russian agents of influence.”

The Kazakh presidency said that the country is “ready” to cooperate in the investigations launched by Ukraine, which has issued an international arrest warrant against two Kazakh citizens who had arrived in the country from Poland for their alleged role in the incident.