| The crime series in Kyrgyzstan continues The well-known crime boss Ryspek Akmatbaev, who won the by-elections to the parliament of Kyrgyzstan on April 9 ( see Vremya Novostei, April 11), will not receive a parliamentary mandate in the near future. Yesterday, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Kyrgyzstan, Tuigunaly Abdraimov, announced at a specially convened press conference that Akmatbayev’s registration as a deputy of the Jogorku Kenesh was temporarily suspended. Mr. Abdraimov justified this decision, citing consultations with lawyers and the authors of the Kyrgyz election code.
It turned out that the above-mentioned authority (in Kyrgyzstan he is simply called Ryspek), who is accused in a criminal case of a triple murder, after registering as a candidate for deputy, received by law only temporary immunity from prosecution. According to the same law, this period of immunity expired on April 10 after the official announcement of the election results by the CEC. And now, in accordance with Article 56, paragraph 4 of the election code (“Grounds for deregistration”), granting Ryspek deputy status is possible only after the final consideration of his case in the Bishkek City Court. And in the event of an appeal from the victims - even after consideration of the appeal.
In other words, Kyrgyz legislation recognizes the right of a citizen under investigation to be elected to parliament. But he denies him the right to become a deputy until the court pronounces an acquittal. These legal innovations unexpectedly provided an opportunity for the country's leadership, suspected in connection with the Akmatbayev case of condoning the merger of government and crime, to get out of the stalemate with dignity and legitimacy.
But that's not all. The CEC chairman said that on the evening of April 10, Ryspek himself called him on his mobile phone and “threatened to kill” him. Moreover, the authority starting his political career, according to Mr. Abdraimov, promised to kill Prime Minister Felix Kulov, heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Murat Sutalinov and Omurbek Suvanaliev. These threats “in the presence of many people” were made at the end of March during a rally in the city of Balykchy, where Ryspek’s electoral district is located. During the rally, as the head of the Central Election Commission reported, the head of the local police department and two employees of the department for combating organized crime were beaten.
“This all indicates that Akmatbayev is going beyond certain limits,” Mr. Abdraimov said. “I don’t understand why our leaders give this guy so much freedom. I hear rumors that Akmatbaev, it turns out, himself says that he has damning compromising materials on individual senior leaders and their children. How reliable this is, time will tell.” For most Kyrgyz residents, only the fact that these confessions were made by a high-ranking government official, but not their content, might have seemed a revelation. It is well known that Ryspek blackmails the Kyrgyz president himself and his son with allegedly compromising information he has on them.
All this unrest caught up in Bishkek when US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher arrived there the day before yesterday and met with the President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kyrgyzstan. In an interview with the Kyrgyz TV channel NTC, the American guest said that the possibility of Kyrgyz criminals coming to power cannot but worry the United States, but the political leadership of the country itself must solve this problem. Mr. Boucher cited the lack of an independent judiciary in Kyrgyzstan as one of the reasons for this situation and questioned the transparency of the electoral procedure that allowed a person with such a background (referring to Akmatbayev) to participate in the elections.
An official visit of President Bakiyev to the United States is expected at the end of May. By that time, Bishkek will have to find some way out of the criminal-government impasse in order to preserve the image of a capable and responsible leadership. But even before his visit to Washington, Mr. Bakiyev plans to visit Moscow. Here, too, we are far from delighted with Kyrgyz affairs. Arkady DUBNOV |
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