Kyrgyzstan Offers Pardon Deal to Suspected Embezzlers

Kyrgyz provisional President Roza Otunbayeva signed the amnesty decree on Sept. 6. (Photo: David Trilling)

Kyrgyzstan’s provisional government is offering a deal to suspected white-collar criminals: repay the funds you are believed to have embezzled from the state and charges against you will be dropped.

Provisional President Roza Otunbayeva signed the amnesty decree on September 6. The pardons pertain to crimes committed during the past five years. The window of opportunity for those wishing to take advantage of the amnesty offer runs September 9-30. Those accepting the amnesty will have to pledge not only to repay the state, but also refrain from running for political office or serving in the government for five years. A state commission will be charged with determining the amount that each amnesty participant owes.

Elmira Nogoibaeva, director of Polis Asia, a research center in Bishkek, said the provisional government’s decision to offer amnesty is motivated by both fiscal desperation and political logic. “If you consider the huge budget deficit, the country can’t wait for outside help. It is a very rational act from the side of the government forced by purely economic needs,” she said.

The full list of those eligible for amnesty has not been made public. However, speculation is running rampant in Bishkek that close associates of former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his son, Maxim, may be eligible.

If that’s the case, the amnesty could create a public relations backlash. Any deals with members of the Bakiyev family or its associates will “definitely be viewed negatively,” Nogoibaeva said. [For background see EurasiaNet’s archive].

Few political parties have criticized the amnesty. But Edil Baisalov, a former advisor to Otunbayeva and the leader of the Aikol El political party described the amnesty as “immoral.”

“[It] totally discredits all of the statements from the current crowd of revolutionaries about fighting corruption. It means if you stole $10 million, but you were caught stealing $500,000, then you can return the $500,000 and live just fine after that,” Baisalov said.

“It shows again that they [provisional leaders] have no intention of changing anything,” Baisalov continued. “Why should a person who steals a chicken go to jail and a person who steals millions can pay it back and be free? Why don’t they have the same attitude towards everyone?”