The status of the ex-president of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev will change - now he will not be a witness, but accused of a serious crime. On Thursday, August 8, said the current head of state Sooronbai Jeenbekov.

“If until yesterday Atambayev was invited to the investigator
as a witness, now he will be treated as
suspected of a serious crime, ”Jeenbekov emphasized.

On Thursday, August 8, a rally was to be held in Bishkek by supporters of former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev.

“Some of my supporters want to go to the White House (the parliament building, which also houses the presidential administration of Kyrgyzstan. - RT ), and some to the Forum (Atambayev’s office). First, we will go to the Forum at four o'clock (13:00 Moscow time), ”Atambayev told reporters on the morning of August 8.

However, the rally was canceled due to a new attempt to storm the residence of the ex-head of state. In this regard, his supporters canceled the rally and went to the village of Koy-Tash, located 20 km from the capital.

On the eve, against the ex-head of state, special services had already made unsuccessful attempts to detain him. The assault on the residence in Koy-Tash turned into clashes between security forces and civilians who defended the ex-president. As a result of the clash, one of the fighters of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan was killed, while 79 people were injured, according to the latest data. In addition, during the assault, Samat Kurmankulov, head of the Main Directorate for Internal Affairs of the Chui Region of Kyrgyzstan, received a closed head injury and a severe brain injury. At the hospital they did trepanation, now he is in a coma.

Both sides accuse each other of using firearms, but the Kyrgyz authorities insist that the special forces used exclusively rifles with rubber bullets, while their employee was shot with a sniper rifle.

On the night of August 8, the special operation ended, the security forces left Atambayev’s residence, and the police removed the cordon from the road leading to the house. At the same time, several commandos remained hostage to supporters of the former president of Kyrgyzstan. As stated in the headquarters of the ex-head of state, the prisoners will be released after communication and the Internet are restored in Koy-Tash, as well as the full withdrawal of GKNB employees. However, during the morning conversation with reporters, Atambayev himself promised to release the commandos, but did not specify when. He also admitted that he was firing in defense of himself.

“My supporters didn't even have a slingshot, it's all lying on TV. I shot when the guys went to the third floor. I tried not to hit the guys, ”Atambayev said.

Earlier, Atambayev made a video message to the people of Kyrgyzstan, in which he thanked ordinary citizens of the countries for resistance to the security forces and urged the authorities to return to the legal field. He also denies involvement in any crimes, including corruption.

“I am ready to answer any question, because there was no corruption on my part in the Batukaev case. Sooronbai Jeenbekov is well aware of this, I myself told him, and this cynicism is amazing, ”said the ex-president of Kyrgyzstan.

He called on the current authorities of Kyrgyzstan to change their minds and stop shooting at their own citizens. According to him, the Kyrgyz people "will never live on their knees, will not be collective farm sheep, will not be slaves of the ruling clan."

“Atambayev trampled on the Constitution of Kyrgyzstan”

Meanwhile, on the morning of August 8, a meeting of the Security Council was chaired by President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sooronbai Jeenbekov. On the agenda was the issue of “ensuring security and the rule of law in connection with the current situation on August 7, 2019”. The day before, the head of state interrupted his weekly vacation.

Jeenbekov said that Kyrgyzstan is a rule-of-law state whose duty is “ensuring strict observance of the requirements of the law by all citizens,” while Atambayev blatantly violated the laws and the Constitution of the country by “stiffly armed resistance to the conduct of investigative measures”.

The President of Kyrgyzstan instructed members of the Security Council to take urgent measures "to preserve the rule of law, peace and security in the country."

Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Kyrgyzstan has already instituted criminal proceedings on the fact of the events. So, in the Unified Register of Crimes and Misconduct, materials on the articles "Mass riots", "Hooliganism", "Murder", "Attempted murder", "Threat or violence against a government official", "Hostage-taking" are registered.

“Supporters of the ex-president put up armed resistance to government officials using weapons and other items. In addition, in order to prevent the investigation, mass riots involving the use of violence were organized, ”RIA Novosti quotes the text of the message from the supervisor.

The State Committee for National Security, in turn, indicated that during the special operation to detain Atambayev, his supporters used women and children as a human shield. In addition, the department reported that “40 pieces of firearms, 15 pistols and over 2 thousand rounds” were seized on the spot.

Chairman of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan Orozbek Opumbayev during his speech at an extraordinary session of the parliament also announced his readiness to resign and expressed regret for not giving permission to the security forces to use service weapons.

“No one expected Atambayev to start shooting practically unarmed guys. Honestly, I regret that I didn’t allow to open fire for defeat, ”Kyrgyzstan quotes him as Sputnik.

"The internal affair of Kyrgyzstan"

Moscow considers the situation developing around the former president of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev as "the country's internal affair." This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova. According to her, a deeper assessment of what happened will be given later.

“I would like to wish, perhaps, having slightly departed from my incarnation as an official representative, just as a person who has friends and acquaintances in Kyrgyzstan, sanity and responsibility,” Zakharova stressed on the air of Ekho Moskvy radio station.

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She also indicated that she did not have data on Atambayev’s appeals about a possible visit to Russia.

Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia Sergey Naryshkin also called for restraint of Kyrgyz citizens. He stressed that the Russian side is worried "for the fate of the country and the people fraternal to us."

We add that on the eve of the Kremlin reported that President Vladimir Putin was informed about the events in the vicinity of Bishkek and receives "the latest information."