BISHKEK, April 1 (Reuters) – Authorities in Kyrgyzstan have arrested the brother of a powerful security chief who was abruptly dismissed in February, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.
The security official, Kamchybek Tashiev, was widely viewed until his sacking as the second most powerful man in the Central Asian state of 7 million people after President Sadyr Japarov. Tashiev was subsequently accused of corruption, amid a widening purge of his allies.
In a statement, the interior ministry said the case against Tashiev’s brother Shairbek, a former lawmaker, was linked to alleged corruption involving the re-sale of oil.
Authorities estimate preliminary damages to the state at 4.1 billion soms ($47 million) and say the amount should be repaid by Shairbek Tashiev, who has been placed in a temporary detention facility in Bishkek. He and other family members had previously been questioned multiple times as part of the probe.
Dozens of officials seen as allies of the ex-security boss, including ministers, mayors and lawmakers, have been sacked or resigned from office since his ouster.
A close ally of Russia, Kyrgyzstan has in recent months attracted scrutiny from Western countries that accuse it of facilitating sanctions evasion by Moscow and have imposed sanctions on several of its banks and cryptocurrency firms. It has protested against those measures, calling them “one-sided”.
(Reporting by Aigerim Turgunbaeva, writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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