If you're a kleptocracy, if you're a wildly corrupt regime like the one that controls

Kazakhstan, you need two things to retain control over the years and to carry on looting.

You need repression at home and you need a facade of legitimacy to allow you to conduct your corrupt business internationally.

Now, repression at home, we can see that the

Kazakh regime has that 10 years ago in Xana Ozen, which is one of the sites of protests now.

The security forces of the regime opened fire on a peaceful protest there, and then they

used monstrous techniques to torture the survivors into submission. Shortly after that, President

Nazarbayev, the overlord of this

kleptocracy, the president, he turned up in Cambridge to give a speech and he had to spin this

massacre. Now, who did he turn to? We turned to that master of Western political communications

Tony Blair, and there are plenty of other political consultants who have worked for the Kazakh regime.

At the same time, they appreciate that a regime

based on violence is fragile, right? So they need somewhere to store some of that loot that's

protected by the rule of law and can't be snatched by some passing revolutionary. So the London

property market is good for the hundreds of millions of dollars from the Kazakh regime there.

Top law firms to defend any challenges to their rights.

Top reputation management law firms like Chilling's and others

to deal with any pesky journalists.

Private intelligence firms in Mayfair

at their disposal to pursue their enemies in Europe.

In short, if you want the full sweet service

to support a kleptocracy, you come to London to find it.

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