BISHKEK: Kyrgyz law enforcement on Saturday carried out a series of arrests, searches and interrogations of opposition figures and journalists as part of what authorities said was a probe into calls for “mass unrest” ahead of a snap parliamentary election on Nov 30.
Though authorities did not link the arrests to the upcoming election, the vote is expected to consolidate the power of President Sadyr Japarov, a populist and nationalist who has clamped down on dissent in what was traditionally Central Asia’s most democratic country.
Several of those targeted are allies of former president Almazbek Atambayev, who governed the mountainous country of 7 million from 2011 to 2017.
Atambayev’s wife and son were summoned for interrogation, while several former lawmakers seem as allies of the former president, who lives in exile in Spain, were detained.
Opposition figures describe the latest actions as politically motivated repression, while authorities say they are carrying out lawful criminal investigations.
