The President's Administration has presented for discussion a draft law "On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic to Strengthen the Fight Against Organized Crime." This step is part of the country's internal policy aimed at eliminating organized crime, dismantling its financial and ideological foundations, as well as protecting the rights of citizens and the interests of the state.
The explanatory note states that organized crime remains one of the main threats to the stability of society and the economy. According to information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, hundreds of members of criminal groups are actively operating in Kyrgyzstan, including individuals occupying certain positions in the criminal hierarchy.
The need for new measures became evident after the adoption in 2025 of updated versions of the laws "On Countering Organized Crime" and "On Operational-Search Activities," which failed to effectively halt criminal structures, especially in the context of digitalization and globalization of criminal schemes.
The President's Administration emphasizes that the draft aims to eliminate existing legislative shortcomings and create new tools to combat organized and transnational crime.
Key proposals include:
- Cancellation of the statute of limitations
- Increased penalties
– as part of an organized or transnational criminal group;
– using official position in the interests of criminal structures;
– involving violence against investigators, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies.
- Updating key articles of the Criminal Code and clarifying concepts
– organized criminal group — a stable group of individuals formed for the purpose of committing crimes;
– criminal community (criminal organization) — an association of organizers and leaders for coordinating criminal activities.
Clarifications of Articles 261 and 262 of the Criminal Code are also planned.
- Introduction of new criminal offenses
– Article 262²: responsibility for individuals occupying certain positions in the criminal hierarchy.
– Article 262³: responsibility for promoting criminal ideology, including public statements about "status" in the criminal environment.
– Article 263¹: responsibility for participation in the legalization of criminal income without prior promise.
These measures are aimed at preventing citizens from being drawn into criminal structures, reducing the level of youth criminalization, and suppressing the ideological influence of the criminal subculture.
The draft also proposes increased penalties for interference in the activities of investigative bodies, threats, violence, destruction of property, use of weapons, and involving private security structures in the interests of criminal organizations.
Additionally, criminal liability is introduced for falsifying evidence in the interests of criminal communities and for concealing their activities.
