Online Investigators Uncover Massive Corruption, Then Get Punished

Michael Hedges December 16, 2019 Follow on Twitter

Whistleblowers don’t always make news, just sometimes. That a person comes forward from within an organization or community to reveal malfeasance, corruption or crime reveals an ethical depth often at odds with common wisdom: go along to get along. Reality, of course, can be dramatic. Confidential sources are protected by journalistic ethics, alive and well in most places. Like journalists who look into their claims, whistleblowers face retribution.

Aierken Saimaiti operated a car rental business in Istanbul, Turkey. He was also a “professional money launderer,” reported Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) (November 21). The Chinese national ethnic Uighur fled Kyrgyzstan in 2017 after several profitable years moving goods and cash for local underworld bosses. Those relationships went sour, as they often do, and Kyrgyzstan authorities issued an arrest warrant. One of the underworld bosses was head of the governments’ customs office.

Once in Istanbul and hesitantly at first, Mr. Saimaiti, name transliterated as Erkin Samat, began unloading to OCCRP, its Kyrgyz affiliate kloop.kg and Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz service of US international broadcaster RFE/RL. Those investigative reporters corroborated the documents and claims. On November 10th, at an Istanbul hotel cafe, Mr. Saimaiti was shot dead. He had applied for Turkish citizenship, which he expected to receive November 14th. Turkey is a dangerous place, it seems, for disruptive people seeking official documents.

Kyrgyzstan is a small, 6 million people, mountainous, landlocked former Soviet republic in Central Asia. Kazakhistan is to the north, Tajikistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west and China to the east. In presidential elections two years ago, deemed generally fair by OSCE monitors, former prime minister Sooronbay Jeenbekov was elected. The country is considered the “least autocratic country in Central Asia,” said Advox/Global Voices, a regional free expression and free press advocate (December 13). Noting that “political stability seems to have taken hold,” Transparency International (September 19) said “corruption remains widespread,” ranking Kyrgyzstan 132nd of 180 countries in 2018.

With constitutional guarantees of press freedom, “the pluralism of the Kyrgyz media is exceptional in Central Asia,” said Reporter sans Frontieres (RSF) (June 25, “but the polarisation of Kyrgyz society is reflected in the media and in the environment journalists work in.” In the 2019 RSF World Press Freedom Index the country ranked 83rd, improved from 98th one year on. Media watchers, generally, observe that television is the main source of news and entertainment, newspapers suffering and online media surging. Investigative reporting “is only just taking hold in Kyrgyzstan,” wrote Eurasianet (November 7). Most of that is online.

OCCRP, Radio Azattyk and independent news portal kloop.kg published their detailed report December 3rd on, with news portal 24.kg publishing a summary. They were immediately hit with a defamation lawsuit from the family of Raimbek Matraimov, the aforementioned former customs official. Aligned with that lawsuit, a Bishkek district court froze assets of the media outlets along with those of Radio Azattyk reporter Ali Toktakunov without notification. Then, in less than a day, that court action was reversed (December 13) after a petition from the litigants. A presidential spokesperson admitted the lawsuit was “a blow against (President Jeenbekov’s) image and the country’s democracy,” quoted by Radio Azattyk (December 13).

See also...

• Hot Topics - Media in Central Asia

• Hot Topics - Investigative Reporting

• Hot Topics - Corruption

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