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The investigation into luxury car smuggling that landed multiple Kyrgyz journalists in prison
Kyrgyzstan has become a waypoint for European or American goods being smuggled into Russia, which has been under Western sanctions since it invaded Ukraine. Some 11 journalists were arrested, four of whom were sentenced, for investigating the trafficking of luxury cars to Moscow. Forbidden Stories and its partners continued their work.
February 26, 2025
When Forbidden Stories met Bolot Temirov in September 2023, he was worried about his teams back in Bishkek. Head of the YouTube-based media projects Temirov Live, which boasts 139,000 followers, and Ayt Ayt Desse (“Say It, Say It,” in Kyrgyz), he is a leading figure in investigative journalism in Kyrgyzstan. He wanted to join the Safebox Network, the tool developed by Forbidden Stories to protect the work of threatened journalists.
Portrait of Bolot Temirov (Credit: Temirov Live Facebook page)
Now aged 45, Temirov has long suffered attacks from the Kyrgyz authorities. Back in 2020, he was assaulted by three men following his revelations about the expenses of a former customs chief, Raimbek Matraimov. In 2022, his investigation into business done in the oil sector by Kamchybek Tachiev, head of the security services and close friend of Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, led to reprisals of a different kind. Temirov was accused by the Kyrgyz authorities of drug trafficking, and then of forgery and illegal border crossing. Stripped of his citizenship and expelled from Kyrgyzstan, he has since taken refuge in Europe, in a country that must remain confidential for security reasons.
Searches, arrests, detentions
Shortly after our meeting, Temirov’s fears were realized. On January 16, 2024, the offices of Temirov Live were raided in Bishkek. In total, 11 of their current and former journalists were arrested, including Temirov’s wife, Makhabat Tazhibek Kyzy, who had taken over as the outlet’s director. An investigation had been opened into “calls for disobedience,” “riots” and “violence,” crimes punishable by five to eight years imprisonment.
In Kyrgyzstan, the authorities are targeting independent media. The day before the Temirov Live journalists were arrested, the offices of 24.kg were also searched. Three weeks later, a Bishkek court ordered the closure of the investigative website Kloop.kg. As recently as February 2025, President Japarov declared his support for Elon Musk’s proposal to close Radio Free Europe, whose local branch, Azattyk, is the most consulted media outlet in Kyrgyzstan. “People don’t need news from Azattyk anymore,” said Japarov.
A country of 7 million inhabitants located between China and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan has long stood out in Central Asia for its relative freedom of expression. But since 2022, it has fallen 48 places in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index and is now ranked 120th out of 180 countries.
A “political” trial
According to the criminal case file we have obtained, two videos posted by Temirov Live in December 2023 were behind the arrest of their journalists. These videos were particularly damning for the Minister of the Interior, Ulan Niyazbekov, scrutinizing his real estate holdings, his links with gasoline smuggling from Tajikistan and his ties with drug baron Kamchybek Kolbaev, who had just been killed in a police operation. They also questioned the activities of MP Nadira Narmatova, who in October 2023 called for the closure of three of Kyrgyzstan‘s independent media outlets.
In the center, 33-year-old journalist Makhabat Tazhibek-kyzy and journalist and poet Azamat Ishenbekov, sentenced respectively to six and five years of imprisonment. (Credit: Private)
On October 10, 2024, Tazhibek Kyzy, Temirov’s wife, was sentenced to six years in prison, and her colleague Azamat Ishenbekov to five years. Two other journalists were given three years’ probation, and the remaining seven were acquitted. According to Temirov Live’s lawyer, Ulan Seiitbekov, this decision was “political, because Temirov Live exposes corruption and the connections of the Kyrgyz president and officials to organized crime.” From the European city where he lives in exile, Temirov wrote to us, “The authorities arrest us so that we stop investigating.”
Imports from the EU multiplied tenfold in two years
Before their arrest, the Temirov Live journalists had begun investigating people close to
President Japarov’s nephew for their involvement in importing luxury cars to Russia via
Kyrgyzstan, evading sanctions imposed by Europe. It is this investigation that Forbidden
Stories has decided to pursue and publish today, in partnership with journalists from
OCCRP, Paper Trail Media, i-Stories, Novaya Gazeta, Siena and Temirov Live.
In 2023, Kyrgyzstan imported €2.7 billion worth of goods from the European Union,
compared with €295 million worth in 2021. This unprecedented growth has made
Kyrgyzstan a hub for sanction circumvention. The goods transited through the country
include dual-use civilian and military equipment, part of another network Forbidden
Stories investigated.
According to Temirov, the continuation of these investigations is a direct message to the authorities in Bishkek. “If they realize that putting us in prison will create new problems
for them, then maybe my colleagues will be released,” he said.
Project partners
Bolot Temirov (Temirov Live), Eldiyar Arykbaev (OCCRP), Anastasia Korotkova (I-Stories), Dajana Kollig (Paper Trail Media), Miglė Krancevičiūtė (Siena), Šarūnas Černiauskas (Siena), Olesya Shmagun (Novaya Gazeta Europe), Leila Bektur (Forbidden Stories)
Forbidden Stories team
Director of publications: Laurent Richard
Editor: Frédéric Métézeau
Journalists: Eloïse Layan et Cécile Andrzejewski
Publication coordinator: Louise Berkane
Video Journalist: Anouk Aflalo Doré
Video editing and motion design: Camille Paulet
Fact-checkers : Emma Wilkie, Colby Payne
Copy editors: Simon Guichard, François Burkard, Mashal Butt
Translator: Amy Thorpe
Communication : Alix Loyer
Web integration : Thibault François