French media outlet Mediapart, founded by a former Le Monde editor, Edwy Plenel, has published an article on the case of Mukhtar Ablyazov. Mediapart, famous for its investigative journalism, described how Kazakhstan had influenced the legal proceedings in France. Following the discovery of suspicious manipulations during the hearings in Aix-en-Provence, a trial into abuse of power will open against the Attorney General, Solange Legras, in Lyon. She was the one to call for Ablyazov’s extradition to Moscow. Ablyazov himself is now in a detention centre in Fleury-Mérogis, where the Mediapart journalist visited him.
It will soon be 2,5 years that Ablyazov has been waiting in the French prison for a decision in his case. A record long procedure in comparison to other extradition cases. Thanks to Ablyazov’s lawyers, the case has seen an unexpected turn of events in the recent months. The shadow of suspicion has now been shed on the French justice. A rare process has been launched in Lyon, looking into the accusations of abuse of power of representatives of the French justice system that had been previously involved in Ablyazov’s case.
