Polarisation grows as Kyrgyzstan tackles controversial corruption issues https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/polarisation-grows-kyrgyzstan-tackles-controversial- corruption-issues/ Joldon Kutmanaliev Gulzat Baialieva A high-profile corruption investigation has divided public opinion along familiar regional lines. Cultural and ideological polarisation is increasingly becoming an important issue, plaguing political life in many countries - including the world’s most advanced democracies. In Kyrgyzstan, this problem has been growing over a long period of time. Recent events show further polarisation across various segments of Kyrgyz society. The recent assassination of a Chinese businessman in Istanbul with alleged connections to top Kyrgyz officials revealed growing cleavages within Kyrgyz society. These events demonstrate the absence of a constructive dialogue which could bridge the divide between different social groups. Political forces in Kyrgyzstan increasingly foster polarisation with a view to instrumentalising these divisions for their own benefits. In turn, this is reinforced by conspiracy theories and fake news, and complemented by cyber-attacks against investigative journalists. These cleavages have been recently exacerbated by the murder of Chinese businessman Aierken Saimaiti in Istanbul, who apparently had strong connections to former president Almazbek Atambayev and current president Sooronbai Jeenbekov, as well as Raim Matraimov, an allegedly central figure in a large-scale money-laundering case. The latter has triggered hot debates on the political division between Kyrgyzstan’s southern and northern regions. This money-laundering scheme was exposed in a joint investigation by media outlets Azattyk, the Kyrgyz Service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and Kloop, with the assistance of international investigative consortium OCCRP. A key witness for the investigation, Saimaiti provided crucial documented evidence on the alleged money-laundering scheme to Azattyk before being killed in an Istanbul cafe on 10 November. According to the article’s claims, approximately 700 million USD dollars – in a country with an annual budget of slightly more than two billion USD in 2018 – had been illegally transferred out of Kyrgyzstan as part of this corruption scheme. Raim Matraimov, the former deputy chairman of the State Customs Service - popularly known as “Raim-million” for his alleged wealth - immediately denied all accusations. On 19 December 2019, in an interview with Asia News, Matraimov stated that media outlets were campaigning to discredit him. President Jeenbekov had already been under pressure to investigate Matraimov, but had dodged the issue, arguing that there was no direct evidence implicating the powerful politician in corruption schemes. However, the scandal surrounding the joint investigation has left the president with no choice but to take action. An anti-corruption demonstration under the slogan “ReAction”, organised by activists in Bishkek on 25 November, was attended by 2,000 protesters, who demanded the Kyrgyz authorities take measures against large-scale corruption. The Kyrgyz authorities have now opened a formal investigation into the allegations, but popular