A lavish engagement party of the Kyrgyz president’s niece in late June became the most talked about event in the Central Asian country. The groom used a government helicopter to propose, prompting President Sadyr Japarov to issue an apology. A few weeks later, the wealthy groom was arrested on drug-dealing charges.
A popular and extravagant Instagram user who also happens to be Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov’s niece, Lazzat Nurkojoeva seemingly had everything when she got engaged late last month.
But her lavish celebration of that moment sparked public outrage when it became known she arrived at the party in a government helicopter, an event she live-streamed.
The Emergency Ministry confirmed that Nurkojoeva’s fiancé had rented the helicopter, paying about $2,000 and apparently using his girlfriend’s connections for the special privilege to do so.
At the same time as Nurkojoeva was being flown to a romantic mountainside spot for the marriage proposal and celebration, large parts of southern Kyrgyzstan were suffering from heavy floods that resulted in 17 deaths, many of them young children.
The juxtaposition of events angered many Kyrgyz, who wondered why the Emergency Ministry’s helicopter was serving as a luxurious vehicle for a relative of the president instead of being used for search-and-rescue purposes.
Shortly after the hours-long engagement ceremony -- replete with bonfires and thousands of white roses -- public criticism raged over the wastefulness of the president’s relatives. This led the president to issue a public apology for his “young and immature” niece’s behavior.
Just before Nurkojoeva's June 24 engagement party, Japarov had criticized officials for spending excessively on lavish ceremonies and had urged them to set an example in the fight against extravagance. But after the helicopter incident, he admitted that some of his family members had acted shamefully.
“I used to criticize others; now I have been criticized myself. I apologize to the [Kyrgyz] people for my niece. She is still young and she, too, sees the outrage of society,” Japarov said.
The scandal of the “Kyrgyz prince” in the white helicopter seemed to have ended with the president’s official apology. But it reawakened several days later, on July 9, with the arrest of Nurkojoeva’s fiancé, Aftandil Sabyrbekov, on charges of dealing synthetic drugs in a nightclub in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital.
Presidential spokesman Askhat Alagozev immediately commented on the arrest on Facebook, saying that "Aftandil Sabyrbekov tried to find a 'protege' from higher authorities to hide his illegal activities."
Japarov has not commented on the arrest.
Japarov's 'Eagle Eyes' On Social Media
Japarov, the youngest president in Central Asia at 55 years of age, is an avid user of social media and is acutely aware of the power of public opinion online and its potential to cause political change and influence state affairs.
While imprisoned from 2017 to 2020, Japarov used social media sites as his primary tool to communicate with the public and build his support base as an opposition politician.
Japarov often uses his Facebook page with around 100,000 followers to discuss important state issues and sometimes even make decisions with the call, "I want to consult with the people." Examples of this are when he went on Facebook to choose a name for the new presidential building and informed people about proposed changes to the country’s flag late last year.
Yet Japarov’s government is intolerant of criticism on social media, despite the president’s ample use of it himself.
Since coming to power amid unrest in 2020, independent media, journalists, bloggers, and other government critics have experienced growing pressure, including trumped-up criminal charges, detentions, and incarceration.
Dozens of social media users have been arrested, with some jailed for at least three years on charges of “attempting to organize a coup” simply for posting criticism or opposing views.
In August 2023, opposition writer Oljobai Shakir was detained and jailed and on May 14 was sentenced to five years in prison on a charge of calling online for mass unrest.
On July 1, Japarov’s regime sentenced well-known folk singer and political activist Askat Jetigen to three years in prison on a charge of calling for a seizure of power after he criticized government policy live on social media.
International human rights organizations have warned Kyrgyzstan about its rapid drop on indexes that had recognized it as the only Central Asian country where free speech was allowed.
The crackdown on social media users, activists, and journalists is a daily reality and has led to Kyrgyzstan falling to 122nd out of 180 countries in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, a drop of 50 places from the previous year.
Japarov's Brother And The Gold Bars
As a former opposition politician in jail before he took power in 2020, Japarov frequently criticized those in power for involving their relatives in the running of the country. The stinging criticism gave him political traction as he pledged he would not allow his relatives to wield or impact power were he in such a position.
Bishkek-based political expert and journalist Adil Turdukulov told RFE/RL that the extravagant engagement celebration by Japarov’s niece caught him off guard.
“Now Japarov wants to prove to people that he can act against his relatives by arresting his niece’s fiancé,” he said. “The absence of a search-and-rescue helicopter during the floods, coupled with the fact that one of the Emergency Ministry’s main vehicles was rented by [the boyfriend of] Japarov’s close relative, was a significant blow to his standing."
But the president’s niece was not his only relative to make headlines in Kyrgyzstan.
In May, exiled political activist Askhat Osmonov posted a video on Facebook claiming that gold bars had been taken out of Kyrgyzstan and sent to foreign countries. He linked these transfers to the Kyrgyz president’s brother, Sabyr Japarov, who had been photographed in 2022 holding gold bars in an incident that also was widely discussed on social media.
As usual, the president reacted quickly, telling the national news agency Kabar that his relatives are focused on attracting investment to Kyrgyzstan, not taking things from the country.
"When I leave office after my term ends, I will provide a report not only about myself but for each of my family members, including my children. I will detail how much money they have invested and brought from foreign countries to Kyrgyzstan; which institutions they have built; and how much money they have invested in various industries. I will also explain how they have benefited the Kyrgyz people and the country. Then you will know many truths,” Japarov promised.
Meanwhile, social media users are making sarcastic comments about his niece’s wealthy groom and his surprising arrest on serious drug charges.
The groom, Sabyrbekov, and his older brother will remain in detention until August 3 for allegedly selling thousands of doses of synthetic drugs in Kyrgyzstan.
