Pro-Government Kyrgyzstan Lawmaker Charged with Corruption

Published: 04 April 2017

Kyrgystan Supreme Court

Kyrgystan Supreme Court (Photo: Supreme Court)

By Jonny Wrate

Kyrgyzstan authorities charged a pro-government lawmaker for illegally transferring agricultural land into private hands and pocketing the money while acting as a regional governor, authorities told OCCRP on Tuesday.

 

Muzaffar Isakov operated the illegal property-distribution scheme while head of the Tash-Bulak village administration between 2010 and 2015, authorities claim.

According to Kabar, he conspired with officials from the regional registration office and architecture department.

Isakov issued 315 illegal decisions allocating 14.34 hectares of agricultural land for individual housing construction, the local news site 24.kg reported.

The State National Security Commission told the OCCRP that several citizens claimed to have personally payed Isakov US$ 1,500 – 3,000 per plot of land.

According to Radio Azattyk, some political experts believe that the charges are politically motivated.

Isakov became a pro-presidential Social Democratic Party lawmaker in 2016 to fulfill ethnic quotas.

Analyst Turat Akimov told Radio Azattyk that he believes that in the run-up to presidential elections in September, the party may be ousting Isakov to make room for more experienced politicians.

Akimov said he doesn’t rule out the possibility that charges will be dropped once Isakov gives up his mandate.