Kazakhgate: Patokh Chodiev’s lawyer lambasts the Commission of Inquiry

The Belgian Chamber of Representatives approved the conclusions of the “Kazakhgate” Commis-sion of Inquiry (PIC) on Thursday, April 26. The next day Kazakh businessman Patokh Chodiev’s lawyer held a press conference calling into question the impartiality of the Commission as well as that of its Chairman, Dirk Van der Maelen. Patokh Chodiev is now demanding an apology from the Belgian Government. Indeed, it’s safe to say that the Commission’s conclusions did not satisfy the defence.

On Friday, Patokh Chodiev’s lawyer, Pascal Vanderveeren, held a press conference calling for an indictment of the PIC’s work, deemed to have been riddled with irregularities. A similar call came from Vincent van Quickenborne, an Open-VLD commission member, who tweeted shortly after the proceedings: “The answer to the real question at the heart of the Commission (did the law on the amicable settlement come about with the aim of helping Chodiev?) the answer is clearly ‘No’. Apol-ogies from the Commission are not necessary. Apologies from commission members who gratuitous-ly accused him are.”

The final report debunks two of the main theories swirling around Mr. Chodiev and the Kazakhgate case. One, no bribes or corruption were identified during Mr. Chodiev’s application for Belgian nationality. Two, the Commission did not find any evidence to suggest that a foreign power (such as France or Kazakhstan, as was widely speculated in the media) or any associate of Mr. Chodiev influenced the outcome of the legislative process regarding the adoption of the law extending the scope of amicable settlements.