Kazakhstan said today it condemned any form of terrorism and was co-operating with the United States after two of its citizens were charged with interfering with the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing.
Students Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, both 19, were charged by US authorities with conspiring to obstruct justice by hiding a backpack and fireworks they found in the dorm room of one of the suspected bombers.
They face up to five years in prison if found guilty.
A third man, a US citizen also aged 19, was charged with making false statements to investigators.
“Kazakhstan strongly condemns any form of terrorism,” the Foreign Ministry said on its website. It said Astana was cooperating with US law enforcement agencies on the case.
Destroying evidence
The ministry emphasised that Mr Kadyrbayev and Mr Tazhayakov were charged with destroying evidence and not with involvement in organising the attack on the Boston Marathon on April 15th, which killed three people and injured 264.
“Their guilt has not been proven and the investigation is ongoing,” the ministry said.
US court papers say that three days after the blasts, the trio moved swiftly to cover up for their friend, surviving bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, when the FBI released pictures of the suspected bombers, made a public plea for help in locating them and conducted a day-long manhunt that left much of Boston on lockdown.
The students were described as college friends of Mr Tsarnaev. At their initial court appearances yesterday, none of the three entered a plea.
After the proceeding, an attorney for Mr Kadyrbayev, Robert Stahl, said: "Dias Kadyrbayev absolutely denies the charges. He did not know that this individual was involved in the bombing. His first inkling came much later."
Mr Tsarnaev faces the possibility of execution if he is convicted of setting off the homemade pressure-cooker bombs in the crowd of spectators at one of Boston’s best-attended sporting events.
Reuters