Crossroads Asia | Politics | Central Asia

Calls for Deeper Investigations Grow in Kyrgyzstan

A former Kyrgyz prosecutor general has called on the Kyrgyz government to create an  independent commission to review the activities of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) since 2020.

In an interview with NazarNews on YouTube, former Kyrgyz Prosecutor General Azimbek Beknazarov – more recently among the acquitted Kempir-Abad dissenters – called for the creation of an independent commission to review the activities of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) since 2020, when Kamchybek Tashiev took it over.

In particular, the curious Kyrgyz practice of kusturizatsia is coming under scrutiny in the wake of Tashiev’s downfall.

As explained by Aksana Ismailbekov in an article for The Diplomat in September 2023:

Kusturizatsia, a term derived from the word for “vomiting” in Kyrgyz, is used to refer to those who damage the state through corrupt practices and economic crimes (such as stealing from the state budget or not paying taxes), and are then forced to pay compensation to the state when they are discovered. When corrupt practices are detected, the perpetrators (mainly influential politicians and prominent businessmen) are given time to voluntarily pay compensation for the damage to the state; otherwise they face possible detention. Thus, kusturizatsia is essentially the legalization of corrupt activities by prominent businessmen and politicians. It occurs outside the rule of law, though has been offered up under the phrase “economic amnesty” by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.

Kusturizatsia, a term derived from the word for “vomiting” in Kyrgyz, is used to refer to those who damage the state through corrupt practices and economic crimes (such as stealing from the state budget or not paying taxes), and are then forced to pay compensation to the state when they are discovered.

When corrupt practices are detected, the perpetrators (mainly influential politicians and prominent businessmen) are given time to voluntarily pay compensation for the damage to the state; otherwise they face possible detention. Thus, kusturizatsia is essentially the legalization of corrupt activities by prominent businessmen and politicians. It occurs outside the rule of law, though has been offered up under the phrase “economic amnesty” by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.

In same cases, what is vomited back to the state is cash. The classic example here is the cyclical nature of repeated arrests, releases, and fining of Raimbek Matraimov.

But in other cases, what is yielded to the state are business ventures or properties. 

Ismailbekov outlined one such case back in 2023:

In the worst case scenario, a businessman can lose his entire business if he is forced to share it with individuals close to government agencies, as was the case for Timur, who had a business distributing cement and bricks from Kyrgyzstan to other Central Asian countries. When he resisted, he lost his entire business. This was done in a creative way: the director of the supply company he had long engaged with suddenly refused to sell Timur goods, saying that he had found a new........

© The Diplomat