ASTANA: A senior Kazakh official was sentenced to three years in jail for abuse of office on Thursday in a case that has raised speculation about growing infighting among the political elite in the Central Asian state.
Zhaksybek Kulekeyev, head of the state railways company, was arrested in April on suspicion of taking a $100,000 bribe.
A court on Thursday lifted the graft accusation but instead charged Kulekeyev, 51,with abuse of office and making a profit by selling his luxury car to his own company.
Kulekeyev, who held a number of senior positions prior to his latest stint at Temir Zholy, has denied all accusations.
His arrest has caused talk about intensified squabbling among senior officials surrounding President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled the oil-producing nation since 1989.
;Clearly this case is part of wider clashes among oligarchs and infighting among senior officials. He must have got in the way of someone s interests,; said Aidos Sarimov, an independent political analyst.
Temir Zholy, with total assets of $7 billion, is a sprawling state giant in charge of all railway transport in Kazakhstan -- an influential position in a country five times the size of France serving as a trading link between Asia and Europe.
In the previous high-profile case, Nazarbayev's former son- in-law was accused of plotting a coup against the veteran leader last year and now lives in self-imposed exile in Europe.
