The President of the country commented on the situation as follows:
— Hello, Sadyr Nurgoyevich. The question about Daniil Azhiev, who was convicted for creating illegal webcam studios, has become a subject of widespread discussion. Social media users are outraged that he allegedly left prison by helicopter and is now leading a luxurious lifestyle. This, they claim, undermines trust in the authorities. How do you comment on this situation? We are addressing you because we heard that Azhiev was released under your amnesty.
— Yes, that is indeed the case. I signed the pardon. Azhiev's mother reached out to me. I don’t know how she found my number on WhatsApp, but she sent me a video message.
In this message, she said: “My daughter-in-law with four children is experiencing great difficulties, one of them is disabled, our financial situation has worsened. I ask you to show mercy and release my son. I assure you that he will behave properly and live peacefully.”
I am a compassionate person and made the decision to grant the pardon. That day, I released not only Azhiev but a total of 75 convicts who committed less serious crimes.
After that, I was informed that Azhiev was leaving prison by helicopter. I immediately ordered the helicopter to be returned.
In the end, he left by car. The information that he flew away by helicopter was true, but within 15 minutes we returned the helicopter to the departure point.
Some blame this on the Ministry of Emergency Situations, but they are not involved in this situation.
Helicopters, in addition to performing emergency flights, also carry out commercial flights. Emergencies do not happen every day.
We allowed helicopters to perform commercial flights during their free time so that they could cover their expenses. Anyone who wishes can use the service if they pay for it.
At the same time, no one can give an order to pick someone up directly from prison. The application only specifies the departure point, destination, flight time, and number of passengers.
Thus, the accusations against the ministry are unfounded. If someone wants to use a helicopter, they can do so by paying for the service.
As for Azhiev, when I learned about the situation, I was also surprised. His mother said that they “have become completely impoverished”, while her son, it turns out, is renting a helicopter and leaving prison. I felt that “I was simply deceived”.
Many indeed take advantage of my kindness and leniency. But this cannot continue forever. When good people become tough, it can have serious consequences.
— Some also ask why the president does not release the poet Askat Zhetigen, who is in custody, but shows mercy to a person who made money from a questionable business?
— I do not choose who to release and who not to. Decisions are made based on submitted petitions for pardon. If a convict submits a request, we consider it. But how can we release a person who has not made a request? If he submits an application, we are ready to consider it.
— It has also become known that you instructed to withdraw from the Jogorku Kenesh the Ministry of Internal Affairs' bill on testing drivers on knowledge of traffic rules at the scene of the violation. Society has reacted positively to this. Does this mean that the initiative is completely canceled or can it be implemented in another form?
— This initiative was proposed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was supposed to stop drivers and check their knowledge of the rules.
If a driver does not know the rules, their driver's license should be revoked and they should be sent for retraining.
Overall, the method is correct, but in my opinion, it is still too early. First of all, it is necessary to prepare the traffic police officers. There are cases when some of them do not fully know the rules themselves.
When they are ready, we can return to this issue.
The main goal of this measure is to reduce the number of accidents.
I always emphasize: in the past, many bought driver's licenses without training, and this increased the number of accidents; our citizens often got into traffic accidents.
This is one way to solve the problem. Our people often talk about “lustration” and believe that it should be carried out. This measure also relates to a kind of lustration.
We have already been conducting “lustration” in the branches of power for five years and have almost completed it at the upper levels. Now it is time to address other areas.
How else can we carry out “lustration” in this area? If we turn a blind eye to violations, the number of accidents will only increase.
People will continue to die. The number of disabled will increase. Therefore, this area needs to be given the most serious attention.
Now the purchase of driver's licenses will become 99% impossible. The state has taken this issue under control. And drivers who bought licenses and did not know the rules need to be taught to comply with them.
Only then will the roads of Kyrgyzstan truly become safe.
The record of Sadyr Japarov's comments on the pardon of Daniil Azhiev and the helicopter incident first appeared on K-News.
