Mafia trials span Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan

In Tashkent, Salim Abduvaliev, a boss who was sentenced to six years in prison in his homeland to avoid heavier sentences in Kyrgyzstan. Powerful figures with dangerous entanglements with the world of politics and sport. So much so that even the excellent arrests raise more questions than certainties about the investigations against them.

Tashkent (AsiaNews) - The trial of one of the main leaders of organised crime in Central Asian countries, the Uzbek Salim Abduvaliev, has caused a stir in recent days. The trial was held in his homeland on minor charges in order to avoid heavier sentences in Kyrgyzstan, as reported by several media outlets in the two countries. The trial had been dragging on since March, and in Tashkent the boss was finally sentenced to six years in prison for illicit trafficking in firearms and smuggling, the latter charge having already been served since his arrest.

Despite the conviction, the Mafia boss has not yet been transferred to the prison camp and remains at the disposal of the security services. Lawyers have obtained for him admission to a specialised clinic for cardiac check-ups, where he was able to meet his son Džasur, who assured him that ‘daddy is fine, but he has lost a lot of weight, I don't know why they haven't transferred him to prison yet, they don't tell us anything’.

In Kyrgyzstan, Abduvaliev is wanted for several crimes, including an illegal border crossing together with a deputy from Žogorku Keneš, Emil Žamgyrčiev, who allegedly helped him defend himself on charges of attempting to make an attempt on the life of President Sadyr Žaparov and other Kyrgyz authorities. The president himself confirmed the validity of these accusations, following a joint investigation by the Kyrgyz and Uzbek services, declaring the boss to be internationally wanted.

According to some sources, Abduvaliev's fate was discussed face-to-face by the two presidents Žaparov and Mirziyoyev before the start of a police operation in which another prominent organised crime figure, Kamči Kolbaev (real name Kamčibek Asanbek), was killed, and which was followed by several other raids in Uzbekistan with arrests of dozens of mafiosi from various groupings.

Bandits of Abduvaliev's level play a crucial role in the life of these Central Asian countries, being very closely linked to Russia since the clandestine trafficking of Soviet times, then developed over the last thirty years with great influence on the political life of post-Soviet societies. In 2016, the now-arrested leader was one of the main supporters of the current Uzbek president Šavkat Mirziyoyev, circulating pictures in which he wore a t-shirt with the words ‘Let's vote for Mirziyoyev’.

Known in the vernacular as Salim-Bogač (‘Salim the rich man’), the boss is also a film producer and vice-president of the Uzbekistan Olympic Committee, and is the main associate of another major representative of organised crime, Gafur Rakhimov, former president of the International Boxing Association (IBA), who is considered one of the main drug barons in the former Soviet world.

In Kyrgyzstan, the MP Salajdin Ajdarov and the businessman Žalil Atambaev have been arrested for their dealings with Abduvaliev, and some of their relatives are also wanted for illicit trafficking of various kinds under the protection of mafia groups. The saga of covert criminal power in Central Asia still seems far from over, and even the excellent arrests of recent years, which presidents proclaim as definitive victories over lawlessness, raise more questions and perplexities than certainties about the true nature of the structures of these states.