Kyrgyzstan jails former PMs over China-linked corruption
- Sapar Isakov and Jantoro Satybaldiyev sentenced to 15 and 7½ year prison terms respectively in trial over US$400 million deal
- Prosecutors said Chinese contractor Tebian Electric Apparatus secured power plant contract thanks to Isakov’s lobbying, despite rival bid being cheaper
Two former prime ministers in Central Asian Kyrgyzstan were sentenced to long jail terms on corruption charges on Friday in a trial that roiled the national elite and fuelled suspicion toward China.
Sapar Isakov, who headed the Central Asian country’s government from 2017 to 2018 and Jantoro Satybaldiyev who filled the role from 2012 to 2014 were handed 15 and 7½ year prison terms, respectively, by the court in the capital Bishkek.
The pair were among eight defendants on trial over a nearly US$400 million China-financed deal for modernising a power plant.
The power plant that services the capital Bishkek, where nearly a million people live, broke down during the winter of 2018, after the project had been completed.
Isakov, 42, was an ally of 63-year-old former president Almazbek Atambayev, who fell out with successor Sooronbai Jeenbekov not long after his one-time protégé replaced him in 2017.