Jakarta paper claims PM’s future in-law has ties to Russian mafia

(The Malaysian Insider) - Indonesia’s top newspaper alleged today that the Kazakh mother of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s and Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s future son-in-law is linked to the Russian mafia.

 Kompas, the most widely-read newspaper in Indonesia, published a column today that also questioned whether the controversies surrounding Rosmah would lead to “change and democratisation in Malaysia.”


The newspaper did not substantiate its claims, but the column today was published amid a tussle between Najib and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for influence in Indonesia following the Bersih rally last month.

Nooryana Najwa, Daniyar Nazarbayev, Maira Nazarbayev
and Khanbolat Nazarbayev

Umno had despatched its secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor to Jakarta last month to explain Putrajaya’s crackdown on Bersih activists after Indonesian media criticised Malaysia.

Last week, Anwar also made a trip to Jakarta.

In the column, the newspaper described Rosmah’s ties with soon-to-be in-law Maira Nazarbayev as close although it provided no evidence to back its claims.

“Maira Nazarbayev, who lives a lifestyle ala Imelda Marcos supposedly has links to the Russian mafia,” the paper said.

Maira is the former wife of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev’s brother Bolat Nazarbayev.