Two weeks after Kamchybek Tashiev, the former head of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security, confirmed that a criminal case had been opened against him, his lawyer announced that the Prosecutor-General’s Office had approved an indictment and transferred the case to the Pervomaisky District Court of Bishkek for trial. There are seven other defendants in the case, though their names have not been publicized.
Also, the case has been classified.
“This means that all court hearings will be closed to the public, and no one is authorized to disclose information regarding the investigation or the judicial proceedings,” Ikramidin Aitkulov, Tashiev’s lawyer, said in a Facebook post.
Tashiev stands accused of preparing for the violent seizure of power – that is, coup plotting – and abuse of office, as previously reported.
In late April, when Tashiev himself acknowledged the existence of a criminal case against him – via an intermediary, Otkurbek Rakhmanov, the director of the Region TV channel – he urged his supporters to stay calm.
“I have to address you regarding the criminal case initiated against me… I have the opportunity to fully defend myself legally in this criminal case and, God willing, I am not guilty of anything, I will be acquitted,” he said in a statement shared by Otkurbek Rakhmanov, the director of the Region TV channel. Rakhmanov is considered a close associate of Tashiev’s.
“Whoever is guilty will be punished, and whoever is innocent will be acquitted,” Tashiev wrote. “Because our head of state has made efforts to create a fair judicial system in our country.”
At the time Tashiev pointed directly to the Kempir-Abad dissenters, noting that in that case 25 people were acquitted.
They were acquitted in June 2024 after a nearly two-year saga that began with a round of arrests in October 2022. The so-called Kempir-Abad dissenters comprised of an array of politicians and activists opposed to a border deal with Uzbekistan involving the Kempir-Abad reservoir. They were charged with plotting “mass riots,” “forcible seizure of power,” and “public calls for a violent seizure of power.” Many of the defendants spent months in pre-trial detention before being released to house arrest. Eight of them were detained up until the surprising acquittal.
All that to say: hardly a fair judicial system. Tashiev may find out himself the hard way, but perhaps not.
As of publication, it does not appear that Tashiev himself has been taken into custody, despite the nature of the charges. There is a clear difference in how he is being handled by the government of his former ally, President Sadyr Japarov, and how others charged under the same articles have been dealt with.
