BISHKEK -- An associate of former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev, Ikramjan Ilmiyanov, has been charged in absentia with corruption and added to a list of wanted persons.
Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on October 19 that Ilmiyanov, a former presidential adviser and deputy chief of the presidential office, left the country in June and his current whereabouts is unknown.
Atambaev left office in November 2017, and has been at odds with current President Sooronbai Jeenbekov since then.
Jeenbekov is an ex-prime minister who was tapped by Atambaev as his favored successor in the October 2017 presidential election.
Two of Atambaev's close allies, former Prime Ministers Sapar Isakov and Jantoro Satybaldiev, who served during his presidency, were arrested in June also on corruption charges.
In April, Jeenbekov fired several other Atambaev allies, including Prosecutor-General Indira Joldubaeva and UKMK head Abdil Segizbaev, who had been criticized for a crackdown on opposition politicians and independent journalists.
Some politicians and lawmakers have called in recent months for investigation of some of Atambaev's decisions while in office.
In early October, the Central Asian state's Supreme Court ruled that the immunity enjoyed by the country's former presidents was unconstitutional
