[JURIST] Son of ousted Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Maxim Bakiyev, was sentenced to 25 years on Wednesday by a Kyrgyz court. He was convicted [BBC report] of entering into several energy agreements that cost Kyrgyzstan hundreds of millions of dollars and found guilty of illegally privatizing public land surrounding a resort. Maxim Bakiyev is currently being held in the UK [BBC report] on fraud charges through the selling of fuel contracts to a US airbase in Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz officials claim they will continue to seek Maxim Bakiyev’s extradition to serve his sentence. The US is also seeking his extradition for obstruction of justices as well as securities fraud. The Bakiyev regime was ousted in 2010, and the interim government has brought charges against the family including the former president and his sons Maxim and Zhanysh. Kurmanbek and Zanysh Bakiyev are believed to be in Belarus.

The current Kyrgyz government has come under heightened scrutiny from the international community. Last July, UN rights chief urged [JURIST report] Kyrgyzstan to address corruption and discrimination. In December 2011, Human Rights Watch criticized [JURIST report] Kyrgyzstan justice system. That May, a Kyrgyz commission implicated [JURIST report] the military in June 2010 violence. Former president Kurmanbek went on trial [JURIST report] in November 2010.