Kazakh ex-diplomat Aliyev dies from apparent suicide - Austrian court

Rakhat Aliyev is pictured in this undated file photo. Aliyev, the powerful son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, said on February 15, 2007 he owns 10 percent in major international sugar merchant Sucden, as well as various other business interests in the oil-rich nation. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/Files (KAZAKHSTAN) - RTR1MFRQ

VIENNA (Reuters) - Rakhat Aliyev, the Kazakh president's former son-in-law turned opponent, has been found dead in an Austrian jail from an apparent suicide, a court spokeswoman said on Tuesday. "He committed suicide," the spokeswoman said. Austrian prosecutors in December had charged him with the murder of two bankers in 2007, a case in which Kazakhstan has repeatedly requested his extradition. Aliyev, once Kazakh ambassador to Austria who became a vocal critic of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, had denounced the case against him as politically motivated. He had been in custody since June when he turned himself in to Austrian authorities. (Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Alison Williams)