PRESIDENT OTUNBAEVA OFFERS AMNESTY TO OFFICIALS OF PREVIOUS REGIME
The Kyrgyz government offers an amnesty to former high officials of Bakiyev’s regime, suspected of embezzlement. While some claim this is a desperate attempt to relieve the state budget deficit, others see it as a way of neutralizing political opponents in advance of the October parliamentary elections.
On September 6, Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbaeva signed an unprecedented decree “On amnesty to those who have committed economic crimes”. According to the decree, suspected embezzlers who served in former president Kurmanbek Bakiev’s regime over the last five years are able to avoid criminal prosecution by repaying all embezzled funds. Moreover, the suspects must agree to refrain from taking positions in the state service and politics for the next five years. The deadline of the one-time amnesty campaign is October 1, 2010, and submitting to it is claimed to be voluntary. The “black list” includes 159 former high officials, including ex-representatives of the cabinet of ministers, local officials and state bankers. However, the names on the list have not been publicly announced.
President Otunbaeva described the initiative as necessary, saying in a cabinet meeting that the measure offers “a way of returning funds that were stolen from the state”. She added that the decree “will allow the return of money that belongs to the people of Kyrgyzstan”.
A special state commission consisting of 14 members was formed to determine the amount of losses to the state as a result of these crimes. The commission possesses broad powers, including the ability to suspend court cases. Busurmankul Tabaldiev, the head of the commission, stated that the commission will investigate and determine the amount of money each amnesty participant owes to the state. The charges against the amnesty applicant will be dropped if he agrees to return this amount. “In case of refusal to repay the embezzled funds, the criminal case will be handed to the court, and most likely the suspected embezzlers will end up in prison”, Tabaldiev concluded.
Some politicians and experts supported the initiative, claiming it can have a positive outcome. “The announced amnesty is a necessary measure and it might bring positive results”, stated the Transparency International Special Envoy in Kyrgyzstan, Miklosh Marshal. Some experts referred to similar practices in other states, such as neighboring Kazakhstan where a similar amnesty campaign returned around US$ 1.5 billion to the state budget. Despite optimism from supporters of the decree, Tabaldiev stated that no one can guarantee that the amnesty initiative will be successful.
Meanwhile, the amnesty initiative is being widely discussed. Many consider the campaign as “betraying and immoral”, claiming that the only place for former allies of ex-President Bakiev and his family is jail.
Two opposing opinions prevail among political experts and analysts as to why such an unpopular decision was made. Some pointed to the significant shortfall in the state budget, which is estimated to 28 billion soms (around US$ 600 million) as the main reason for the amnesty campaign. Others feel that the decree has more to do with the upcoming parliamentary elections in a month. Ajdar Kurtov, an expert with the Russian Institute of Strategic Research, claims that the authorities are trying to restrain their political opponents from participating in the October parliamentary elections. “By offering a deal, the Kyrgyz authorities hope that their opponents will agree to their terms”, concluded Kurtov.
Most of the former officials are leading or have joined opposition political parties that are running for parliament. There is a strong possibility that the decreasing popularity of the government and pro-governmental political parties gives the opposing parties a chance to win a significant portion of the seats in parliament, making the authorities uneasy.
Despite the optimistic views of the decree shared by some, at least one potential amnesty applicant, former Bishkek Mayor Nariman Tuleev, has refused the opportunity. As his lawyer, Sultan Baratov, claims, the former Mayor was detained by police at the airport and refused to admit his guilt, seeing no reason to make a “deal” with the government in spite of pressure by the authorities to sign the amnesty agreement. Tuleev was included in the list of candidates for the “Ata Jurt” opposition political party. icient to meet this goal. Georgia needs to make a tremendous effort to win over the countries which abstained from voting this year. However, it can be assumed that countries displaying less hostile relations with Russia may lack the motivation to help Georgia on these issues.
