More than 30 people accused of wanting to "organize riots and a coup" in Kyrgyzstan have been arrested, the GKNB, the secret service of this Central Asian republic plagued by regular political unrest, announced on Tuesday.
“The State Committee for National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic (…) dismantled the illegal activities of a group of people who were carrying out clandestine preparations to stage riots in the country in order to seize power by force,” is it indicated in a press release, which specifies that the “more than 30 people arrested on Monday confessed”.
The leader of the political party "Eldik Kenech" (People's Council), which is not represented in Parliament, is accused by the GKNB of being the mastermind of this group of more than 100 people. The GKNB assures that the incriminated group was to "soon receive funding from abroad".
On Monday, videos released by local media showed armed men arresting individuals. In the evening, the official Kabar news agency confirmed that the GKNB was carrying out arrests, without further details.
Kyrgyzstan, or Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic allied with Russia and getting closer to China, has experienced multiple political crises with three revolutions (2005, 2010, 2020) since the fall of the USSR in 1991.
The arrests come just days after European Council President Charles Michel visited Kyrgyzstan, during which President Sadyr Japarov said he was "ready to work hand in hand with the European Union".
If this mountainous country has long enjoyed relative media and political pluralism in a region where freedom of expression remains restricted, NGOs denounce an increase in pressure against the media and civil society.
In late May, the leader of the main opposition party in parliament and former presidential candidate, nationalist Adakhan Madoumarov, was prosecuted for "rioting", "taking power by force" and "abuse of power". Neither the prosecutor nor Parliament had, however, specified what these accusations referred to. But Mr. Madoumarov is one of the main critical voices opposing a border agreement with neighboring Uzbekistan which notably involves the use of a water reservoir, a crucial resource in this agricultural region suffering from drought.
