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Accused of corruption, former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev was detained. His arrest came after two assaults of special forces marked by violence. Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, is following this political crisis closely.
With our correspondent in Moscow, Étienne Bouche
President from 2011 to 2017, Atambayev will remain in detention until August 26, when this measure is reviewed. He denounces " absurd " charges against him and considers himself a victim of his personal conflict with his successor and rival, the current President Sooronbai Jeenbekov .
This arrest is the new episode of significant political instability in this Central Asian country. An instability that holds the attention of Russia where live many Kyrgyz whose influence in this country is solid.
This spectacular arrest comes at the same time as Bishkek hosts a summit of the Eurasian Economic Union. A structure initiated by Moscow bringing together its closest allies, including Kyrgyzstan.
Medvedev's warning
On the eve of a meeting with his counterparts, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called for resolving this crisis in " strict compliance with the law and the Constitution ", saying that Kyrgyzstan had " already exhausted its quota of revolutions " . Last month, Vladimir Putin met both Almazbek Atambayev and current President Sooronbai Jeenbekov in the hope of defusing the confrontation between the two men.
Under the presidency of Atambayev , Kyrgyzstan moved closer to Russia. In 2015, he joined the expensive Eurasian Economic Union in Moscow. Bishkek has extended the lease of a Russian military base that Moscow has occupied since 2003.
Asked by the Russian radio BFM, the political scientist Andrei Kortunov evokes the reasons for concern of Russia: the possibility of an influx of Kyrgyz citizens in Russia, the potential strengthening of the Islamist nebula and drug trafficking through Kyrgyzstan.