Rakhat Aliyev, the son-in-law of Kazakhstan’s president Nursultan Nazarbayev is considering seeking political asylum in Austria after the Kazakh Ministry of Interior issued an international warrant for his arrest, accusing him of several kidnappings, writes Financial Times.

Aliyev says the charges were “fabricated” after he told Nazarbayev about his political ambitions for the presidential post. Political statements of the ex-diplomat featured harsh-toned criticism of Nazarbayev’s regime. He accused the father-in-law of authoritarianism and promised to stay in politics.

However, the spokesman for the sacked official said on Monday that Aliyev abandoned plans to remain in politics and battle “creeping totalitarianism”. “It makes no sense to fight the mighty Kazakh regime. His priority now is to ensure the safety of his children and to stay in Vienna”.

Currently, the observers believe that the main intrigue now is whether Aliyev’s wife, member of the parliament Dariga Nazarbaeva would join her husband in exile, or whether she would choose loyalty to her father - the president of the country.