Kyrgyzstan president jails niece’s fiance after ‘embarrassingly ostentatious’ proposal

The president of Kyrgyzstan has imprisoned his niece’s fiance after the man staged an “embarrassingly ostentatious” proposal.

The president of Kyrgyzstan has jailed his niece’s fiance after the man staged an “embarrassingly ostentatious” proposal at the same time as deadly mudslides ravaged the country’s south.

Aftandil Sabyrbekov employed the use of an emergency, $2943-per-hour government helicopter when he popped the question to former Miss Kyrgyzstan, Lazzat Nurgozhoeva, in June.

The 23-year-old is the niece of the former Soviet Central Asian state’s leader, Sadyr Japarov.

Mr Japarov immediately condemned the elaborate nature of Mr Sabyrbekov’s proposal, which took place on a mountainside and entailed a neon sign, giant floral arrangements and a fireworks display.

“I apologise to the people for my niece. She also listens to people’s opinions,” the president said in a media interview at the time, according to The Telegraph.

“I believe that she will draw the right conclusions from this.”

Aftandil Sabyrbekov employed the use of an emergency, $2943-per-hour government helicopter when he popped the question to former Miss Kyrgyzstan, Lazzat Nurgozhoeva in June. Picture: Instagram

President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov. Picture: Vyacheslav Oseledko/AFP

When Mr Sabyrbekov failed to issue his own public apology, Mr Japarov reportedly lost patience and ordered his arrest a fortnight later on drug-related charges.

He also told local media that Mr Sabyrbekov did not love his niece, only proposing to her because he wanted to build political goodwill “to protect himself and to hide his illegal activities”.

Associate professor at Washington’s National Defence University and Central Asia expert, Erica Marat, told The Telegraph the president’s “arrest of his niece’s fiance is a move to quell domestic criticism”, after footage of the proposal went viral in Kyrgyzstan.

“Lots of people discussed the lavish marriage proposal that seemed to use state assets as a sign of high-level corruption,” Professor Marat said.

‘Lots of people discussed the lavish marriage proposal.’ Picture: Instagram

Ms Nurgozhoeva was crowned Miss Kyrgyzstan in 2020. Picture: Facebook

Mr Japarov has made a point of cracking down on public finance spending since he came to power in 2020, wanting to present himself as a “man of the people”, Texas A&M University associate professor, Edward Lemon, said.

“In reality, his regime is deeply corrupt,” he told The Telegraph.

“They just prefer their kleptocratic activities to take place outside of the public eye.”

Ms Nurgozhoeva, who was crowned Miss Kyrgyzstan in 2020, has deleted footage of the proposal from her social media.