Singer Kairat Primberdiev Finded Over Inciting Discord in Kyrgyzstan

Singer Kairat Primberdiev has been fined for inciting ethnic discord, Orda.kz reports, citing Kloop.

On March 20, the Pervomaisky District Court of Bishkek delivered its verdict in the case against the artist. The charges stemmed from his comments in an interview with the YouTube channel Airan, where he apologized for the historical death of Kenesary Khan.

The court ruled that his statements violated the article on incitement of racial, ethnic, and national discord.

The controversy arose from Primberdiev’s remarks:

It so happened that our Ormon-Khan was forced to kill Kenesary Khan. I just want to ask the Kazakh people for forgiveness for what happened. I want to cry now. Some of Kenesary's inner motives were also good. He wanted our two peoples to unite against the Russian Empire. It's just that our Shabdan Batyr and Ormon-Khan saw the strength of Russia and said: 'If we act now, we will lose all our people: both the Kyrgyz and the Kazakhs.' Even the Kazakh sultans were against us going against Russia.

Initially, Primberdiev faced public backlash in Kyrgyzstan.

Authorities later opened a criminal case. His defense that he was apologizing in a personal capacity, not on behalf of all Kyrgyz people, did not sway the court.

Under Article 330 of the Kyrgyz Criminal Code, the singer faced a potential prison sentence of up to five years.

However, the court issued a more lenient punishment—a fine of 100,000 soms (approximately USD 1,140).

Primberdiev responded to the verdict on Instagram, stating he would gladly contribute to the Kyrgyz treasury:

When you get your paycheck, have a cup of tea on my behalf,he wrote in the caption of his video post. 

Original Author: Igor Ulitin