Parliamentary Panel issues Babanov Findings

    By Asker Sultanov
    In a joint session May 25, two Kyrgyz parliamentary committees cleared First Deputy Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov of some charges of corruption levelled by former general prosecutor Kubatbek Baybolov.
    The rule-of-law committee and budget committee accepted a parliamentary commission’s findings concerning accusations by Baybolov that Babanov had participated in seizing the Alfa Telekom mobile phone provider and that his relatives had illegally acquired land. The commission found the accusations baseless.
    However, the commission – formed by opposition lawmakers in April – said Babanov illegally re-acquired Kyrgyz citizenship in 1999, bought a bank using his mother’s name, and deprived some business owners of their property. Babanov called the findings politically motivated, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.