More than thirty people have been arrested and accused of trying to “organize riots and a coup” in Kyrgyzstan, the secret services of the Central Asian republic announced on Tuesday.
“The State Commission for National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic (GKBN) dismantled the illegal activities of a group of individuals who carried out clandestine preparations to organize riots in the country with a view to seizing power by force,” the GKNB said.
In a statement, the Kyrgyz secret services said that “the more than 30 people arrested on Monday confessed.”
The GKNB accused the political party Eldik Kenech (People’s Council), without parliamentary representation, of being behind a group of more than 100 people who “would soon receive funding from abroad.”
On Monday, videos released by the local press showed armed men detaining people. Hours later, the official Kabar news agency confirmed that the GKNB was making arrests, without elaborating.
The arrests came three days after a visit to the region by European Council President Charles Michel, who attended the second Central Asia-European Union (EU) summit and met Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.
Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic allied with Russia and increasingly close to China, has gone through multiple political crises with three revolutions (2005, 2010, 2020) since the fall of the USSR in 1991.
The mountainous country enjoys limited media and political pluralism in a region where freedom of expression remains restricted. Non-governmental organizations have reported increased pressure against the media and civil society in Kyrgyzstan.
In late May, the leader of the main opposition party in parliament, United Kyrgyzstan, and former presidential candidate, Adakhan Madouumarov, was charged with organizing “riots” and a “forcible seizure of power” as well as “abuse of of force”.
However, neither the Public Prosecutor’s Office nor the parliament revealed the facts to which the accusations referred.
Madoumarov is a leading critic of a border deal with neighboring Uzbekistan, which mainly involves the use of a water reservoir, a crucial resource in this drought-stricken agricultural region.
Source: TSF
