— Hello, Sadyr Nurgozhoevich. The discussion surrounding Daniyar Azhiev, convicted for organizing illegal webcam studios, is gaining momentum. Social media expresses dissatisfaction that he left prison by helicopter and then showcases a lifestyle on social media that appears to flaunt his wealth. Many believe this undermines the authority of the government. How do you respond to this? It is also said that Azhiev's release occurred due to your pardon?
— Yes, that is indeed the case. We pardoned him and released him. Azhiev's mother reached out to me. I don’t know how she found my WhatsApp number, but she sent me a video message.
“My daughter-in-law has four children, one of whom is disabled. We are facing great difficulties. Please, pardon my son; he promises to behave and live peacefully,” she pleaded for help.
I am a person capable of compassion. I believed her and agreed to the pardon. That day, I pardoned not only Azhiev — a total of 75 convicts who committed minor offenses were given this opportunity.
However, shortly after that, information came in that “Azhiev is flying away by helicopter.” We immediately turned the helicopter around and brought him back.
Thus, Azhiev left by car. Although the information that he flew away by helicopter was true, within 15 minutes we returned the helicopter and landed it back at the departure point.
Some people are trying to blame the Ministry of Emergency Situations for this, but they are not at fault.
Helicopters, in addition to fulfilling tasks in emergencies, can also carry out commercial orders, as such situations do not occur every day.
Therefore, we allowed helicopters to use their free time for commercial flights to cover their expenses. If someone wants to use helicopter services, they can pay and order it.
There was no order to take Azhiev from the prison. Only the departure and landing locations, flight time, and number of passengers are indicated.
So, the Ministry should not be blamed. If someone wants to use the services, they should pay.
When I learned about the situation with Azhiev, it shocked me. I thought: if his mother was crying and saying they were left with nothing, while he was renting a helicopter and leaving prison, then I was deceived.
Many people abuse my kindness. But such kindness cannot last forever. When a soft person becomes tough, it will not change.
— Some commentators also asked: “Why didn’t the president pardon the poet Askat Zhetigen, who is in prison, but released a person involved in indecent activities?”
— I do not choose whom to release and whom not to. The decision is made on each pardon request. How can I release a person who has not submitted a pardon request? If he applies, we will consider his request.
— It has also become known that you instructed the Ministry of Internal Affairs to withdraw from the Jogorku Kenesh the draft law concerning on-site driver testing for violations of the rules. The public reacted positively to this news. Is this initiative now completely canceled, or will it be implemented in another form?
— This initiative was proposed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the aim of checking the knowledge of traffic rules among offenders. If a driver does not know the rules, their license will be revoked, and they will have to retake the exam.
Overall, this is the right approach, but I think it is still too early. First, we need to fully prepare the traffic police officers, as sometimes they themselves do not know the rules.
When the traffic police officers are ready, we can raise this issue again.
The goal of this measure is to reduce the number of traffic accidents.
I always emphasize that previously, driver's licenses were bought without training, which led to an increase in accidents, and our citizens suffer.
One of the ways to solve this problem is precisely this. Our people often talk about the need for “lustration.” This also applies to this area.
We have been conducting “lustration” in government structures for five years, and almost all upper levels are completed. Now we need to pay attention to other areas.
How else can we carry out “lustration” in this field? If we leave offenders unpunished, the number of accidents will only increase.
We must care for the lives of our citizens. The number of disabled people will increase, so this issue needs serious attention.
In the future, I am confident that the purchase of driver's licenses will be minimized. The state has taken this issue under control, and we must educate drivers who previously bought licenses and did not know the rules to ensure safety on the roads of Kyrgyzstan.
