Kazakh opposition journalist remains in deep coma after assassination attempt
Kazakh opposition journalist Aidos Sadykov is in a deep coma following an attempt on his life in Kyiv on 18 June.
Source: Natalya Sadykova, the journalist's wife, on Facebook
Quote: "Aidos is in intensive care in a deep coma. Aidos is desperately fighting for his life. Statistically, the survival rate after a gunshot wound to the head is about 5%. Aidos is in that 5%.
After the surgery, the doctors said it would be a miracle if he survived the night. Aidos has been alive for five days... The doctors are predicting 0.01% that everything will be fine."
For reference: Aidos and Natalya Sadykov moved from Kazakhstan to Kyiv in 2014. Criminal charges have been brought against Aidos Sadykov in Kazakhstan which he says are politically motivated. The Sadykovs obtained refugee status in Ukraine and ran their own YouTube channel, Base (Бәсе). They have been critical of the Kazakh authorities and oligarchs and were supportive of the protests that took place in Kazakhstan in 2022. The Kazakh authorities placed Aidos and Natalya Sadykov on the wanted list in the autumn of 2023, accusing them of inciting hatred.
Background:
- Kazakh opposition journalist Aidos Sadykov was shot by an unknown assailant in Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi district on the afternoon of 18 June as he was sitting in a parked car.
- His wife, Natalya Sadykova, told Ukrainska Pravda that her husband is in intensive care in a serious condition. She is convinced that Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was involved in the assassination attempt.
- It was later reported that two citizens of Kazakhstan suspected of the attempted murder crossed the border with Moldova on the day of the crime and have been put on the international wanted list.
- Commenting on the attack on Sadykov, Tokayev said that the official authorities of Kazakhstan are ready to join the investigation if necessary.
- Altai Zhakanbayev, one of the suspects, was detained in Kazakhstan on 22 June after he turned himself in to the police.
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