As for Tuyakbai Commission, it is out of point talking about who pays it. It is a public commission that gathered regularly to oversee investigation. With the start of trial, it has less importance than the lawyers in court. During the investigation, the Commission pointed to the necessity of interrogation of Dariga, Rahat and many others, saying that they could have had much stronger “enmity” than Utembayev. Besides, Tuyakbai, being the Chairman of the Movement “For a Just Kazakhstan”, turned down the presidential invitation to take part in the State Commission (a simulation of a national debate), saying that he has no moral right to share one table with the possible killers, implying Dariga and, possibly, her father.

The reality of this, as far as I can tell, is that Rahat Aliyev was behind the murder, and Sarsenbayev was just unlucky to be chosen as a rather visible person to be killed — but that the real target was Utembayev’s boss and Rahat’s longstanding political enemy, Nurtai Abykayev. Does anyone have an opinion on the extent to which this angle — much more political and more sinister than the Zhovtis take on this — is going to come out in the Tuyukbai commission? Probably it depends, like everything in Kazakhstan, on who is paying whom.

Interestingly, last week numerous relatives and clan-brothers of Utembaev came out with open letter to the president, saying that ex-chief of the Senate’s staff is not guilty. The letter, though being stuffed with pathetic eulogies to Nazarbayev, is a clear sign that the society does not believe the official version. Earlier, Utembayev’s wife told the press that her husband denies his previous “confessions”. Miroshnikov’s (a person accused of murder, along with Ibragimov) wife was also saying that her husband faced physical pressure. Sources that are close to the relatives of the slain, say that ALL of the accused, including commando officers, renounce their initial testimonies and do not admit guilt (it was initially stated that Utembayev had allegedly pleaded guilty).