The Ministry of Justice of Kyrgyzstan proposes imprisonment for up to 12 years for citizens, who led the unauthorized seizure of land and were engaged in the construction of houses. Orozbek Sydykov, deputy head of the ministry, announced at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on agrarian policy, water resources, ecology and regional development.
The deputies consider a draft law on amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Offenses. The initiators propose to toughen the punishment against the squatters and those who allowed them to do it.
«Land is the main wealth of the state, and it affects the food security of the country. Previously, there was a mafia, who included representatives of government, local government and non-governmental organizations. Some groups, in order to achieve their goal, deliberately destroyed some categories of land and allowed to build houses there. This, in turn, forced the state to carry out a land amnesty,» said Orozbek Sydykov.
It is proposed to increase the fine from 20,000-50,000 to 50,000-100,000 soms for unauthorized seizure of someone else’s land. The document will also include a rule on the return of the land plot and elimination of the consequences of the seizure, which is not in the current version of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic.
In the case of seizure of land with the use of violence, the law provides for imprisonment for up to five years. The bill proposes to increase it to seven years and add a rule on the return and restoration of the land plot. If serious injuries were inflicted during the seizure of land, then it is proposed to deprive people of liberty for up to 10 years.
It is also proposed to add a new article to the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic, providing for punishment for officials, landowners, land users or tenants — for failure to take measures to prevent unauthorized seizure of agricultural land. In addition to a fine of 30,000 to 70,000 soms, such types of punishment as community, correctional labor, restriction, imprisonment, and deprivation of the right to hold a certain position are also provided.
We propose to imprison those who led the seizure of land, violated their intended purpose and organized the construction of houses on agricultural land for up to 12 years.
Orozbek Sydykov
It is proposed in the same bill to place in jail those who were involved in the division of agricultural land for 5-7 years.
«It is proposed to release from punishment those people, who seized the land for the first time, on the condition of returning and restoring the land,» the official said.
This bill was submitted for public discussion in June 2022. About 13,000 hectares of land are listed in Kyrgyzstan as agricultural, although in fact they are built up with houses and people live there. Most of these lands were occupied by citizens without permission after 2005.
