Kyrgyz President's Relative Arrested For Fraud

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov (file photo)

BISHKEK -- The Birinchi Mai district court in Bishkek told RFE/RL on July 17 that a relative of President Sadyr Japarov has been placed under arrest on fraud charges.

According to the court's press service, Ulan Japarov, who is a son of President Sadyr Japarov's cousin, Rakymjan Japarov, was sent to pretrial detention until at least August 19.

Media reports say Ulan Japarov is suspected of obtaining a significant amount of cash from a person in exchange for securing an official post for him, which in the end never happened.

Japarov was initially arrested in July 2023 on corruption charges.

Presidential spokesman Erbol Sultanbaev said at the time that Ulan Japarov was suspected of involvement in corrupt activities linked to the Customs Service.

In October 2023, the Birinchi Mai district court transferred Japarov to house arrest. An investigation into that case is also under way.

SEE ALSO: The 'Kyrgyz Prince' In The White Helicopter: President Apologizes For Relative's Extravagant Behavior

Also, on July 17, media reports in the Central Asian country said a brother-in-law of the chief of the State Committee for National Security (UKMK), Kamchybek Tashiev, was arrested on a fraud charge.

The reports gave the man's initials as A.T.O.

Sources close to the UKMK leadership confirmed to RFE/RL that a man with those initials was arrested but did not give any further details.

Kyrgyz authorities have yet to officially confirm the arrest. Tashiev has not commented on the reports.

The Birinchi Mai district court told RFE/RL that its judge on June 11 sent A.T.O. to pretrial detention for at least two months. The court neither elaborated on the case nor confirmed if the suspect was related to Tashiev.

A week earlier, the Birinchi Mai district court said the boyfriend of President Japarov's niece had been arrested on a charge of producing illegal drugs.

Aftandil Sabyrbekov, the boyfriend of Lazzat Nurgojoeva, who is a daughter of President Japarov's younger brother, Davletbek, was arrested days after a video showing him proposing to Nurgojoeva in a lavish ceremony circulated on the Internet, sparking a public outcry.