Former Premier Faces the Music

As the Kyrgyz authorities continue their investigations into alleged wrongdoing by the previous government, the former prime minister has returned to the country to defend himself against corruption charges.

Nikolai Tanaev, who was prime minister until the March 24 revolution that toppled the government and forced President Askar Akaev to flee, is not the first figure close to the ex-president to return from exile. Bermet Akaeva, the president’s daughter, came back shortly afterwards to take up her seat in parliament.

But Tanaev stands out since, unlike Bermet, he has been charged with criminal offences, and was on the wanted list until he returned voluntarily from Russia, where he has remained since he went there at the end of March to help the new Kyrgyz administration negotiate Akaev’s formal resignation.

“I’ve come to answer questions from the prosecutor general’s office,” he told IWPR shortly after his return to the capital Bishkek on August 22.

Charges were brought in early June against Tanaev and Adil Toigonbaev, a businessman who held no political office but was Akaev’s son-in-law, Bermet’s husband. On August 19, prosecutors announced that charges had been filed against Aidar Akaev, the president’s son.

Toigonbaev does not appear willing to come back and face the music. And the authorities in neighbouring Kazakstan, of which he is a national, have turned down a request for his extradition.

Tanaev is charged with abusing his official position and inflicting damage on the central government budget. A press release issued by the prosecutor’s office said the charges included illegal transfers of government funds to the private construction firm company Kyrgyzkurulush, where Tanaev’s son holds a majority stake. Tanaev is also accused of wrongfully diverting government money to buy Toyota 4x4s for various officials; create a presidential library; and fund the Meerim charity headed by Mairam Akaeva, the ex-president’s wife.

Tanaev spent his first day back in the country answering questions about these allegations at the prosecutor general’s office, in connection with the criminal cases opened against him. He also had a 15-minute meeting with Prosecutor General Azimbek Beknazarov, who when Tanaev held office was an opposition politician. Prosecution spokesman Almaz Dyryldaev was unable to give details on what they talked about.

But because Tanaev had shown good faith in cooperating with the investigation, Beknazarov honoured an earlier promise not to have him arrested, and all that was asked of him was a written pledge not to leave town. Technically, the deadline for Beknazarov’s promise of immunity from arrest had run out, but Dyryldaev said, “An exception was made for Tanaev…. [whose] representatives had warned that he would not be able to appear in time because he was ill.”

The following day, August 23, Tanaev gave a press conference in which he asserted his innocence.

“I always worked constructively. I’ve got nothing to lose, I have no property. No member of my family possesses even a kiosk,” he said, referring to the tiny shops that dot the streets of Kyrgyz towns.

His lawyer Maxim Maximovich - who is also acting for Akaev family members - expressed confidence that Tanaev’s name would be cleared, “I believe these charges are unfounded. The investigation is being conducted quite objectively, in my opinion. And as a result of an objective investigation, these charges will be dropped.”

Maximovich’s acceptance that prosecutors would ensure the enquiry was fair reflects the gentlemanly approach that both sides appear to have taken, with neither disputing the legitimacy of the other’s rights. As well as the decision by prosecutors not to arrest the former prime minister, Dyryldaev gave an assurance that their approach would be unbiased.

And Tanaev himself, asked by IWPR whether he saw the charges against him as politically motivated, answered circumspectly, “An assessment, a re-assessment is under way of the actions of the former government, so naturally these questions are being asked. I don’t think it is political motivated, that factor is no longer relevant.”

The second man on prosecutors’ wanted list, Toigonbaev, is believed to spend much of his time in Kazakstan, with little chance of him coming to Bishkek.

The charges against him include fraud, grand theft and tax evasion, according to a statement issued by Kyrgyz prosecutors on August 18. Some of the allegations relate to two companies, the local Aalam Service and the offshore Merlisaid, which investigators have established Toigonbaev owned. Aalam Service had a contract to supply aircraft fuel not only to Bishkek’s Manas international airport, but also to the adjacent United States airbase.

Toigonbaev could not be reached for comment, and when IWPR approached his wife Bermet, she declined to comment, saying merely, “I can’t say anything, you should talk to him,” she told IWPR.

Kazakstan’s prosecution service has made it clear that Toigonbaev will not be detained and sent to Bishkek. According to Deputy Chief Prosecutor Askhat Daulbaev, this is because there is no extradition arrangement between the two neighbouring states.

“We do not hand over Kazak citizens to anyone except those countries with which we have treaties. I don’t think we have such an extradition treaty with Kyrgyzstan,” he said in remarks quoted by the Kazakstan newspaper Vremya on August 25

Toigonbaev was one of the first people to be charged as a result of the in-depth investigation that followed the March revolution. A special commission headed by deputy prime minister Daniyar Usenov found that the ownership structure of the 70 or so firms believed to have been controlled by ex-president Akaev’s family members or associates was so complex - linking substantial local business interests to an assortment of offshore companies - that it was hard to figure out what belonged to whom.

The Kyrgyz authorities want to charge Aidar Akaev, who is also abroad, with evading charges of financial misdemeanours and acquiring property by illegal means. Like his sister Bermet, he won a parliamentary seat in the disputed elections that sparked the March revolt, so he enjoys immunity from prosecution. Beknazarov has asked parliament to lift this immunity, and the matter is to be debated in September.

On August 19, the prosecution service added another charge to its wish list, relating to alleged wrongdoing by Akaev junior while associated with a leading mobile phone business. The former president’s son has publicly dismissed the accusations against him as “slander”.

In political circles, opinion about the extent of the Akaev family’s guilt or otherwise is divided fairly predictably according to allegiance.

Bolot Januzakov, who served Akaev as deputy chief of the presidential office, says there is no foundation for any of the criminal charges brought against those associated with the former administration.

“The present regime should publicise documents that prove these serious statements,” he told IWPR.

The views of many in the new political order were voiced by banker and former member of parliament Bolot Baikojoev, who believes the Akaev family controlled significant assets, and that their role not only damaged the economy but in the end led to the public discontent that produced a revolution.

Now, says Baikojoev, the new government must put its money where its mouth is, and ensure that action is taken on the allegations it has made about its predecessors. “The current authorities have made serious statements about these criminal cases, so these now need to be brought to a conclusion,” he said. “The people are very much expecting this.”

Cholpon Orozobekova is a correspondent for Azattyk, the Kyrgyz service of RFE/RL in Bishkek. Leila Saralaeva is an independent journalist in Bishkek.