The Pervomaisky District Court in Bishkek has sentenced former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev *in absentia* to 11 years and six months in prison. The charges include corruption, illegal land appropriation, and organizing the 2019 unrest.
On June 3rd, Presiding Judge Aziretov Mederov read the verdict encompassing several criminal cases involving the former president. The court also ordered the confiscation of Atambayev’s assets and the revocation of his state awards.
Former presidential chief of staff Farid Niyazov and ex-parliamentarian Ravshan Zheenbekov received seven years and eight months imprisonment and were taken into custody immediately. Irina Karamushkina, a member of the Social Democrats party, was sentenced to seven years and six months and similarly remanded. Former MP Asel Koduranova received a three-year probationary sentence. Atambayev’s former bodyguard, Kanat Sagymbaev, was sentenced to seven years and six months but released on a five-year probation.
Former Energy Minister Askarbek Shadiev was sentenced *in absentia* to 15 years and six months in a general regime colony, with asset forfeiture and a three-year post-release ban on holding public office.
The court also ordered Shadiev and Atambayev to pay 5.439 billion soms ($62.1 million) in restitution.
Atambayev served as president from 2011 to 2017. Following a forceful raid on his Koi-Tash residence in 2019, he was arrested and charged with land grabbing, corruption, and orchestrating the violent clashes that resulted in one special forces officer’s death and over 200 injuries. While initially sentenced to 11 years and two months with asset forfeiture in 2020, he was released for overseas medical treatment in 2023, traveling to Spain and subsequently failing to return to Kyrgyzstan.