Kyrgyzstan: fugitives were returned to prisons, one of them was appointed as Prime Minister

In Kyrgyzstan, during the riots on October 5-6, caused by the results of the parliamentary elections, protesters released seven prisoners. All of them held high positions in the past.

 After their release, former prisoners joined the protesters, dividing into two camps. So, Sadyr Zhaparov with his supporters were on one side, and the former President Almazbek Atambaev was on the other. The released Sapar Isakov and others joined the latter.

In this confrontation, supporters of Sadyr Zhaparov were in the majority, which allowed him subsequently to take the post of the Prime Minister. On the night of October 10, at a parliamentary meeting in the state residence “Ala-Archa”, the deputies elected him by a majority vote as the country’s new Prime Minister.

It’s worth noting that he was appointed head of the cabinet of ministers, despite the fact that his conviction was not canceled. Earlier in the media, there were reports that the Supreme Court allegedly acquitted him. However, the press service denied this.

“Sadyr Zhaparov and his lawyer petitioned for the cancellation of the previous sentences and the reopening of the case on the basis of newly discovered circumstances. The judges’ college granted the petition and sent the case to the Prosecutor General’s Office for pre-trial proceedings,” the Supreme Court noted in its statement.

In 2017, the District court sentenced the former deputy of the Jogorku Kenesh, Sadyr Zhaparov, to 11 years and 6 months in a strict regime colony for taking a hostage.

The fate of other politicians, who were also released during the riots in the country on October 5-6, was going in different way. They were returned to places of detention. The first were Almazbek Atambaev and his supporters. Only Albek Ibraimov (sentenced to 15 years in four episodes) and Sapar Isakov (sentenced to 15 and 18 years in prison for corruption) remain at large. According to the State Penitentiary Service, the former Prime Minister Isakov and the former Mayor of Bishkek Ibraimov must return to the colony by October 13.