BISHKEK (TCA) — A court in Kyrgyzstan has sentenced ex-President Askar Akayev’s former son-in-law to 20 years in prison in absentia, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported.
A Kyrgyz Supreme Court spokeswoman told RFE/RL on July 18 that Adil Toighanbaev was found guilty of financial fraud, tax evasion, and the illegal privatization of property. The verdict was pronounced by the Pervomai District Court of Bishkek.
In addition, the court ordered to recover from Toighanbaev in favor of Kyrgyzstan’s Manas International Airport 677.291 million som (about $ 10 million), 24.kg news agency reported.
Toighanbaev, a 50-year-old Kazakh national, is the ex-husband of Akayev’s eldest daughter, Bermet Akayeva.
Under President Akayev, Toighanbaev controlled aviation fuel supplies to the US air base at Bishkek’s Manas Airport. His business empire included Kyrgyz Public Educational Radio and Television (KOORT) and the newspaper Vechernii Bishkek.
In 2013, authorities in Kazakhstan detained Toighanbaev at Interpol’s request but refused to extradite him to Kyrgyzstan, saying they do not extradite Kazakh citizens to foreign countries. Toighanbaev was also detained in Dubai in 2016 and in Moscow in 2014, but never extradited to Kyrgyzstan.
The first president of post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, Akayev, 72, was ousted by protesters in March 2005 and fled to Moscow, where he remains.
He wanted by Kyrgyz authorities for alleged corruption.
