Kyrgyz Blogger Jailed for Inciting Ethnic Hatred

A video blogger from the Jalal-Abad region of Kyrgyzstan has been sentenced to two years in prison for inciting ethnic hatred and propaganda related to the war in the Middle East after the Supreme Court upheld the verdict of a lower court. According to information provided by Turmush, the blogger's name was not disclosed. The charges were brought under Part 1, Article 330 of the Criminal Code of Kyrgyzstan. The man ran a video channel with an audience of about 400,000 subscribers, where he posted religious instructions and supported the Yakyn Inkar organization, which is banned in the country. In addition, his channel published materials stoking hatred in the Middle East. In particular, on November 1, 2023, he posted an interview with the head of a political party of the Jogorku Kenesh, who made statements calling for violence and the destruction of a specific nationality. The case was classified by the National Security Committee. The detention of the blogger took place on November 25, 2023, and the trial took place on March 27, 2024, in the Pervomaisky District Court of Bishkek. The defense argued that the materials published did not violate the law, but the Supreme Court left the regional court's decision unchanged. Based on the conclusions of experts and reports from staff of the 4th Main Department of the SCNS, the court ruled that the blogger's publications provoked an increase in harmful and radical comments. There have been several cases in Kyrgyzstan involving charges of inciting ethnic and religious hatred. In August 2023, blogger Aizhan Myrsan was fined for posting what the court deemed to be incitement to ethnic hatred. Her lawyers insisted that the video had been taken out of context and edited, but the court upheld the decision. Another famous case is that of Omurbek Babanov, a politician who was accused of inciting ethnic hatred after a speech he delivered in 2017. His remarks at a meeting with voters became the subject of court proceedings, where experts interpreted them as potential calls for violence.

Kyrgyz President Applauds Son’s Golf Project Despite Questions

Kyrgyzstan is building the biggest golf course in Central Asia, President Sadyr Japarov says. The man building the golf course? Japarov’s son, Rustam. Japarov has often said that his friends and family won’t get involved in politics and government, though some media reports and critics say that he hasn’t kept his word in a country where corruption has been a longstanding concern. In an interview this week with the state-run Kabar news agency, the president stuck to his position that family members won’t get mixed up in state affairs. “I always tell them not to do business with the state. We must learn from the past,” said Japarov, who has previously said that critical media coverage of his government amounted to slander and trafficking in rumors. “Rustam is busy attracting investors. He is building a golf course in Issyk-Kul. God willing, we plan to open it next year,” said Japarov, who didn’t offer details about the project other than that “it will be the largest golf course in Central Asia.” The president also praised his son for a project that he started last year to build a football field with lighting in every village in the country. The area around Lake Issyk-Kul, where the golf course is being built, is one of Kyrgyzstan’s main tourist sites. Its attractions include beaches, hiking and ancient petroglyphs showing deer, leopards and hunting scenes. There are restaurants, wellness centers and conference facilities catering to international delegations. Telegram founder Pavel Durov was spotted there earlier this year. Japarov’s son, Rustam, drew attention in 2022 when a photo circulating on social media appeared to show him with leaders at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional security group, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. At the time, the 24.kg news service questioned why he was there since he didn’t hold any government position and wasn’t part of the official Kyrgyz delegation. In June, President Japarov apologized when news emerged that the fiancé of his niece had proposed marriage after the pair traveled on a rented government helicopter to the mountains near Bishkek. The scandal got worse when the fiancé, Aftandil Sabyrbekov, was arrested on drug charges. In the Kabar interview that was published on Wednesday, Japarov also disputed any suggestion that the involvement of Taimuras Tashiev, son of a high-ranking government official, in a road project in the town of Özgön was inappropriate. Tashiev’s father is Kamchybek Tashiev, chairman of the State Committee for National Security. “Why not say thanks to Taimuras,” said the president, who regularly gives interviews to state-run Kabar while some more critical media have faced state prosecutions. “Would Taimuras introduce the company he founded if it would harm the state?”