UKRAINE, July 2 — Kazakh activist Aydos Sadykov died in Kyiv on Tuesday nearly two weeks after being shot outside his home in Ukraine, where he had been granted asylum, his wife said.
Natalia Sadykova blamed Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for the death of her husband—an outspoken critic of the Central Asian country’s leadership.
“Aidos Sadykov passed away today at 3:00 Kyiv time,” Sadykova wrote on social media.
“My beloved husband, father of our three children, great son of the Kazakh people.
Aydos dedicated his life to Kazakhstan and suffered martyrdom at the hands of killers,” she added.
She was in the car with her husband when he was shot by two men who, according to Ukrainian prosecutors, had “carefully planned the murder” and then escaped to Moldova.
“For thirteen days Aydos fought for life in intensive care, but no miracle happened. His death is on Tokayev’s conscience,” Sadykova said on Facebook.
Tokayev said he had instructed Kazakh law enforcement agencies to cooperate with Ukraine to locate the suspects, his spokesperson said last month, according to Russian news agencies.
“Astana is ready to cooperate with Ukraine, including through Interpol,” the spokesperson was cited as saying.
Aydos Sadykov was granted asylum in Ukraine in 2014.
Human Rights Watch called for an investigation into the shooting.
“The news of the attack on Sadykov during broad daylight in the Kyiv city centre is deeply disturbing,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. — AFP
