Moldova arrests former Kyrgyz presidential advisor who had requested political asylum after accusing his president of corruption and election rigging.
Acting on a warrant issued by Kyrgyzstan, Moldova has arrested Aidar Khalikov, a former advisor to Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov. Khalikov is wanted in his home country after accusing the president of corruption and election rigging.
Khalikov served as an advisor to the Kyrgyz president until September 2024. He left the country and, in November, gave an interview to Bolot Temirov, the editor of a local media outlet. In the interview, he called Japarov a “corrupt leader” and accused him of bribing voters to secure his election victory. In Moldova, Khalikov sought political asylum.
Khalikov alleged that Japarov and his inner circle were illegally enriching themselves by seizing businesses and extorting money. He also accused the president of accepting funds from various businessmen, including Raimbek Matraimov, the former deputy head of customs, who has been implicated in corruption scandals.
The former advisor further claimed that Japarov’s press secretary, Daiyrbek Orunbekov, oversees a team tasked with shaping pro-Japarov narratives on social media and spreading hostility toward political opponents and human rights activists. Khalikov also alleged that the president uses fabricated charges to imprison and silence his critics.
The day after the interview was published, Orunbekov issued a statement denying Khalikov’s accusations. He claimed that Khalikov had been fired for abusing his power, engaging in smuggling, and acting as an intermediary in questionable deals.
“Khalikov is ready to insult anyone. He left Kyrgyzstan in the summer, and now he has become a tool in the hands of Bolot Temirov,” Orunbekov said.
Temirov, who himself has faced legal troubles, was arrested in Kyrgyzstan in January 2022 for drug possession. The arrest occurred just a day after his outlet Temirov LIVE published an investigation into the business dealings of the family of the head of the National Security Service.
After his release under house arrest, Temirov continued his investigative work and authorities later added three more charges. They accused Temirov, who, like many in Kyrgyzstan, is also a citizen of Russia, of falsifying documents to receive a local ID and a Kyrgyz passport. Based on that claim, they also charged him with illegal border crossing when he traveled abroad.
A month later, an interior ministry investigator annulled Temirov’s documents and in November 2022 a court ordered his deportation. Police officers took him to the airport right from the court room and accompanied him on the flight to Russia.
Khalikov is currently in detention in Chisinau, awaiting a decision on his extradition.
“The said person is wanted by Kyrgyz authorities on suspicion of committing fraud that caused significant financial damage. The foreigner is currently detained for extradition in accordance with an issued international arrest warrant,” the General Migration Inspection of Moldova’s Ministry of Internal Affairs stated on its website.
“Moldova’s decision to extradite him is troubling because, as practice shows, there is nothing good waiting for him in Kyrgyzstan,” Temirov told OCCRP. This is about him criticizing the authorities and exposing facts and evidence he gathered while serving as an advisor,” he explained.
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