Chinese Uygur whistle-blower’s corruption claims prompt rare protest in Kyrgyzstan
- Aierken Saimaiti claimed to have smuggled US$700 million out of the country through kickbacks. He was gunned down in Istanbul on November 10
- The revelations have piled further pressure on the former Soviet country’s fragile government, led by President Sooronbai Jeenbekov
Hundreds of protesters held a rare demonstration in Kyrgyzstan on Monday sparked by a whistle-blower’s claims of massive official corruption.
The whistle-blower who spoke to journalists was a Chinese Uygur businessman involved in the bribery that he exposed. He fled the country saying he feared for his life, but was murdered in Turkey this month.
Demonstrators held a march and a rally outside the main government building in Bishkek in response to a dramatic report claiming corrupt officials took huge pay-offs in return for turning a blind eye to smuggling millions of dollars out of the impoverished country.
The rally with many young people participating appeared to be an expression of grass roots outrage at the large-scale corruption, as it was not called by any prominent politician. Local media reported up to 1,000 participants.
One protester, 57-year-old Kenzhebek, called the revelations the “final straw” for Kyrgyzstan, the second-poorest of the former Soviet republics.
“Today, unfortunately, we see the authorities following the same corrupt path as previous presidents,” Kenzhebek said.
The report compiled by the US-based Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz service and the independent Kyrgyz news website Kloop.kg came out on Thursday.