President of Kyrgyzstan, the increasingly authoritarian leader of what used to be Central Asia's only democracy.
Mr Japarov became president in dramatic fashion in 2020-21. After widespread vote-buying marred a parliamentary election, citizens took to the streets and toppled the incumbent president. Amid the chaos his allies sprung him from prison, where he was serving a sentence for kidnapping, and installed him as prime minister. He won a cleanish presidential election a few months later.
He has since banned outspoken media outlets, jailed political opponents and removed the single-term presidential limit. He transformed Kyrgyzstan from a parliamentary democracy into a presidential system and introduced legislation modelled on Russia's "foreign agents" law. Vladimir Putin has called Kyrgyzstan under his leadership a "reliable partner".
I got my driver's license photo taken out of focus on purpose. Now when I get pulled over the cop looks at it (moving it nearer and farther, trying to see it clearly)... and says, "Here, you can go."