Spy Case Likely to be Kept Under Wraps
Spy Case Likely to be Kept Under Wraps
A parliamentary employee in Kyrgyzstan has been arrested on suspicion of espionage, but NBCentralAsia observers say the result of the investigation into the case are unlikely to be made public.
On June 21, the Committee for National Security, GKNB, announced that a member of the parliamentary press service and a foreign intelligence agent were arrested the previous day, as the former was handing secret information to the spy.
The parliamentary staffer was charged with treason on June 25, and law-enforcement agencies have told the Bishkek Press Club that the information passed to the foreigner related to the planned construction of the Kambarata hydroelectric power stations, an issue which has been the subject of heated debate in the legislator in recent days.
This is not the first time government workers have been accused of espionage. In July 2004, the GKNB made public the names of six employees from various ministries arrested for gathering state secrets and confidential information over a two year period to hand over to foreign organisations.
No one was convicted in that case, and NBCentralAsia observers doubt this latest incident will be any different.
“Cases like this don’t usually reach court in our country. They are resolved by bilateral talks with the governments whose representatives, or spies, have been the recipients of the information. However, this has yet to be proved,” said political scientist Toktogul Kakchekeev.
He believes nothing will come of this incident if the foreign agent belongs to a major world power, because Kyrgyzstan usually seeks a compromise rather than taking resolute action.
Orozbek Moldaliev, director of the Politics, Religion and Security Studies Centre, is also dubious that a thorough investigation will be carried out, especially considering the closed manner in which previous spy cases have been handled.
“This announcement is of the same nature. It may well happen that after some time has passed, we still won’t find out how it ended,” he said.
According to political scientist Marat Kazakbaev, this incident, too, will have little broader impact unless the hard facts are made public. For the moment, all that can be said is that the security services have done a professional job and carried out their duties.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
On June 21, the Committee for National Security, GKNB, announced that a member of the parliamentary press service and a foreign intelligence agent were arrested the previous day, as the former was handing secret information to the spy.
The parliamentary staffer was charged with treason on June 25, and law-enforcement agencies have told the Bishkek Press Club that the information passed to the foreigner related to the planned construction of the Kambarata hydroelectric power stations, an issue which has been the subject of heated debate in the legislator in recent days.
This is not the first time government workers have been accused of espionage. In July 2004, the GKNB made public the names of six employees from various ministries arrested for gathering state secrets and confidential information over a two year period to hand over to foreign organisations.
No one was convicted in that case, and NBCentralAsia observers doubt this latest incident will be any different.
“Cases like this don’t usually reach court in our country. They are resolved by bilateral talks with the governments whose representatives, or spies, have been the recipients of the information. However, this has yet to be proved,” said political scientist Toktogul Kakchekeev.
He believes nothing will come of this incident if the foreign agent belongs to a major world power, because Kyrgyzstan usually seeks a compromise rather than taking resolute action.
Orozbek Moldaliev, director of the Politics, Religion and Security Studies Centre, is also dubious that a thorough investigation will be carried out, especially considering the closed manner in which previous spy cases have been handled.
“This announcement is of the same nature. It may well happen that after some time has passed, we still won’t find out how it ended,” he said.
According to political scientist Marat Kazakbaev, this incident, too, will have little broader impact unless the hard facts are made public. For the moment, all that can be said is that the security services have done a professional job and carried out their duties.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
