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Kazakhstan cooperates with US in investigation of terrorist act in Boston

The prosecutor’s office reported that Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov face up to five years in prison
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

ASTANA, May 2 (Itar-Tass) - Kazakhstan “cooperates with the U.S. law enforcement agencies in the investigation of a terrorist act in Boston,” the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said in a statement, which was made over the detention of two Kazakh students Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov in the United States. They are charged with an attempt to conceal the involvement of their friend Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the terrorist act. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev together with his brother Tamerlan are the main suspects in masterminding the two bomb explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15.

“We would like to note that the accusations of involvement in masterminding the bomb explosions in Boston are not brought against our citizens. They are accused of destruction of evidence,” the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said in the statement. The document also noted that Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov are given the necessary consular support. “Their guilt is not proved, the investigation is in progress. Dias Kadyrbayev and Azamat Tazhayakov cooperate with the investigative bodies and give assistance to them,” the statement runs.

Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov are charged with taking a bag filled with the fireworks, from which the powder was extracted, as well as a notebook from the room of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev three days after the terrorist act. Upon learning in the news cast that Dzhokhar’s elder brother is killed and Dzhokhar is escaping from police, Kadyrbayev decided to get rid of the bag and brought it to the garbage site. The FBI agents found the bag there later.

The prosecutor’s office reported that Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov face up to five years in prison. Another suspect in this criminal case - U.S. citizen Robel Phillipos, 19, faces up to eight years in prison for false testimony. Meanwhile, during the preliminary hearings in the court the lawyers of the Kazakh students claimed that their clients did not know about the terrorist act being masterminded. A next court session in this criminal case is scheduled for May 14.

All three suspects got acquainted with Tsarnaev at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth, which is situated near Boston, where all of them studied. Before the accusations were brought against them on Wednesday, Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov have been kept under arrest for more than a week on the suspicion of violating the U.S. visa rules.