Rule of law - The Times Of Central Asia

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Turkmenistan Residents Detained for Public Displays of Affection

Police in Turkmenistan have detained couples for holding hands, sitting close together, and public displays of affection. A young married couple in Turkmenabat, witnessed cuddling in a parked car, were horrified when a policeman threatened to detain them for “undermining moral values.” In his defence, the man said, “I hugged my wife to calm her down. She was crying as we were discussing where to get enough money for essential medicines." Describing what had ensued, he said that the policeman had demanded to see both their passports and marriage certificates. However, after receiving verification that they were married, the policeman continued to harass them in hope of a bribe. The case is not unusual and in recent weeks, Turkmenabat, the administrative center of the Lepab province, has received reports of many similar incidents in which the city's police have seen fit to reprimand couples who hold hands, sit beside each other, kiss, or hug in public places. Although public displays of affection are not banned in Turkmenistan, the police in the country's regions, including the capital Ashgabat and Mary province, have detained young men and women in parks and on the streets for violating “social norms.” In the worst case scenario, "violators” in Mary were handcuffed and forced to attend lectures on moral values at the local police station. Residents say that restrictions imposed in Turkmenabat since April, have created a backlash of complaints from local students and other young people of being ambushed by security forces who appeared to be acting as vice police. According to several people targeted by the raids, most incidents ended with the police taking monetary bribes from the couples.

Bishimbayev Murder Trial

Justice Prevails in Kazakhstan Murder Trial Exposing Rift Between Government and Old Regime

The trial of Kuandyk Bishimbayev, a former Minister of the Economy of Kazakhstan, was a watershed event representing the growing role of civil society in the country, as well as the new political leadership’s success in breaking a decades-old cycle sustained by corrupt elites. In spearheading reforms to align his country with international best practices, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has also answered people’s demands. But public worries that Bishimbayev, sentenced to 24 years in prison for killing his wife, may be pardoned as soon as Tokayev leaves office shows how fragile the country’s institutional development remains and how its progress may still be on a ticking clock. Kazakh politician Kuandyk Bishimbayev was convicted of murdering his common-law wife, Saltanat Nukenova, during an altercation between the couple in November 2023 at an Astana restaurant. Throughout the course of his trial, which started in March 2024, it became apparent that the violence caught on a CCTV camera was not a one-off incident, but the latest in a string of abuse. The video, also seen by the jury, includes scenes of a man grabbing a woman by the hair, kicking her, and hitting her in the face. Nukenova is said to have subsequently died from brain trauma. Several factors drew international attention to the case, including the high-profile names involved, broadcasted court proceedings, wide social media engagement, and the commentaries from human rights figures and opinion leaders. The ultimate verdict handed down to Bishimbayev, 24 years imprisonment in a maximum-security institution, is in many ways unprecedented in post-Soviet states, and became a harbinger of changes in both Kazakhstan’s justice system and society. Bishimbayev’s cousin and the director of the restaurant where Nukenova was killed, Bakhytzhan Baizhanov, was also sentenced to four years in prison. How a tragedy precipitated positive change Saltanat Nukenova’s death, and the events following it, helped bring about new laws and perhaps even opened the way for further reforms. Just as importantly, they also increased legal literacy among Kazakhstan’s civil society. The government’s response, for its part, has garnered international praise. Critically, the public tragedy expedited the implementation of positive steps that President Tokayev had previously wanted to take. Contrary to popular belief, Nukenova’s murder was not the basis of the initiative to re-criminalize domestic violence. This change had already been proposed by Tokayev in 2019, but was opposed by legislators, some of whom reportedly had themselves been previously associated with cases of domestic violence or abuse. The events surrounding Nukenova’s death provided the government with an opportunity to overcome domestic opposition and take steps to correct the country’s course on violence against women and children. On April 15, 2024, Tokayev signed a landmark law criminalizing violence against women and children, reversing a 2017 decriminalization. The need for full-fledged judicial reforms has been advocated for by several international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and public associations, as well as institutions in the United States and Europe. This is not surprising given that the country’s existing judicial system was largely formed under its first...

Economy

Fight Against Corruption Allows Kyrgyzstan to Increase State Budget

The head of the Kyrgyz Cabinet of Ministers, Akylbek Japarov, has said that thanks to the fruitful work of the government, “a new era in the financial sector of the Kyrgyz Republic has begun.” During a conference, which was attended by ministers, deputies, officials of various levels, representatives of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and other international organizations, Japarov spoke about the new monetary policy. According to him, in 2020, the consolidated budget amounted to 247.8 billion KGS ($2.8 billion), whereas in 2024, the budget is estimated at 670 billion KGS ($7.6 billion). In four years, the authorities were able to increase the state budget by almost 400 billion som ($4.5 billion). “The reason for such achievements was the elimination of corruption. The main disease was the Kumtor deposit. Dividends received from it from 1994 to May 2021 amounted to $100 million. Over the past two and a half years, we have made a profit of $300 million,” Japarov said. The head of the Cabinet emphasized that Kyrgyzstan's GDP has reached 1.4 trillion som ($15.9 billion), while at the time of the collapse of the USSR and independence, the republic's GDP was only 100 million som ($1.1 billion). “The growth of state budget revenues has become a solid basis for the implementation of policies to improve the socioeconomic situation of citizens,” Japarov summarized.

Rule of law

Gasoline Smuggling a Growing Business in Kyrgyzstan

Smuggled gasoline is being sold from plastic bottles on the outskirts of Bishkek. This fuel is cheaper than at official gas stations, but motorists say the quality is no worse. Kyrgyzstan's State Tax Service of Kyrgyzstan seized almost 100,000 liters of gasoline from illegal fuel and lubricant traders in the first four months of 2024 alone. The sellers were fined one million som ($11,500). Fines are doing little to stop illegal gasoline sellers. One trader explained to The Times of Central Asia that selling smuggled gasoline is very profitable, earning them about $40 a day. The fine is only $35, and since a violator must be caught to be punished, most go about their business unaffected. As of 2023, the official average salary in Kyrgyzstan stood at $376 a month. A liter of gasoline at such illegal points costs, on average, 10% less than at official gas stations: the trade is thriving and gaining momentum yearly. The State Tax Service explained to The Times of Central Asia that their competence includes checking electronic invoices and the presence of cash registers or patents to pay taxes to the state. As a rule, illegal sellers have neither, so they are fined, and their products are confiscated. However, the tax authorities cannot completely stop the activities of traders. Two other government agencies can check fuel sellers: the traffic police and the ministry of natural resources. But Kyrgyzstan has a moratorium on business inspections, so officials' hands are tied. Illegal sellers sell both Russian and Kazakhstani gasoline. The supply chain is well organized -- tanker truck owners take the fuel from the bases of official gas stations to special storage sites. Then gasoline is poured into plastic containers and sold on highways. The average capacity of a gasoline tanker is about 15 tons, and one tanker can transport up to 100 tons per day. Despite the ban on exporting fuels and lubricants from Kazakhstan, gasoline and diesel from there are still smuggled into Kyrgyzstan. Points of sale for such fuel are concentrated along the border with Kazakhstan, on the northern outskirts of Bishkek. Kazakh gasoline is cheaper than Kyrgyz, which contributes to its popularity. Fuel from the neighboring country is delivered in hidden containers in ordinary cars and heavy trucks, and there are even secret underground gasoline pipelines in border communities. The business of selling smuggled gasoline also thrives thanks to corruption. For example, last year, officers of the State Committee for National Security detained several employees of the State Tax Service, who, for a fee, made false transportation documents within the country and false consignment notes and seals.

Rule of law Security

Police Officers in Bishkek Fired Over Mob Conflict with Foreign Students

The Kyrgyz Interior Minister and various heads of district police departments, whose duties include ensuring law and order in Bishkek, attended a meeting to discuss the recent mob conflict with foreign-students, wherein the Interior Ministry board of directors and staff members received disciplinary citations. The head of the Interior Ministry's Internal Investigation Service, Zholboldu Kochkonov, briefed law enforcers on the results of an internal investigation which was conducted following the events of May 13th and 17th, when foreign students and workers were beaten, and violent scenes erupted on the streets and in several Bishkek hostels. "A total of 20 employees have been brought to disciplinary responsibility. Of them, 10 employees of the Bishkek Sverdlovsk District Department of Internal Affairs, including the head of the unit, have been relieved of their posts," Kochkonov stated following the meeting. According to the head of the Internal Investigation Service, an additional 10 employees of the Bishkek City Main Department and the Sverdlovsk District Department of Internal Affairs were given various types of disciplinary penalties. Kochkonov said that an investigation was launched into the officers' failure after the May 13th fight, and it was due to their inaction that the conflict escalated into the large-scale riots seen on May 17th. As TCA reported, on May 13th, a fight between local youths and foreign students took place in a hostel in Bishkek. Four days later, a rally and riots occurred in the center of the city in which around a thousand people participated. More than 40 people were hospitalized. Following the unrest, President Japarov promised swift action should the events be repeated, stating that, “Anyone, whether he is our citizen or a foreign citizen, who threatens the integrity of our state, organizes chaos, will be punished mercilessly.”

Bishkek Unrest Rule of law

Kyrgyzstan’s President Warns of Swift Crackdown If Unrest Flares Again

President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan on Monday has addressed the nation about recent unrest and anti-foreigner sentiment, saying “our hot-blooded youth” were led astray by inflammatory internet posts and warning of a crackdown if it happens again. Japarov spoke after a week of tension in Bishkek that began with a fight between local and foreign people at a hostel on May 13 and culminated with large crowds of angry Kyrgyz youths roaming intersections on the night of May 17-18. There were scattered attacks on foreigners, whose population includes students and workers from Egypt, Pakistan and other countries. Some people were hospitalized. Riot police were on standby as officials negotiated with the crowds and persuaded them to disperse peacefully. “Now, if such an event happens again, then the law enforcement agencies will switch to the method of dispersal by force from the first minutes. Thank God, now the power structures are not as weak as they used to be,” Japarov said. “Anyone, whether he is our citizen or a foreign citizen, who threatens the integrity of our state, organizes chaos, will be punished mercilessly.” Japarov said the demands of Kyrgyz youth for tough action against illegal migration were “certainly correct” and that the government had taken steps to address the problem. But he chastised those who were “led by the temptations of provocateurs” seeking to spread chaos. The president referred to “bloggers” trying to foment a “large-scale uprising in the crowd,” though he did not offer more details on the alleged agitators. Kyrgyzstan has experienced periodic unrest on a much bigger scale over the years, and three presidents have been ousted by uprisings since 2005. Japarov, who had been in exile and in prison, came to power in 2021 after being freed by supporters whose protests against a disputed election toppled the previous government. The Central Asian country had been known for a lively media scene and other relative freedoms in a region with authoritarian traditions. Japarov has rolled back some of those rights, tightening control over foreign funded non-governmental organizations despite international concerns and increasing pressure on some media critical of the government. Japarov said law enforcement officials arrested “the perpetrators” of the May 13 brawl and appealed to the country to consider the damage that the unrest of the last week can do to tourism and the economy, as well as the nation’s interaction with the world. He noted that more than one million Kyrgyz citizens live abroad (the total population is about seven million), and that the number of working migrants in Kyrgyzstan is 5,322 people and foreign students number 42,620. “We should be happy about that,” he said.