Former Kyrgyz President Atambayev has surrendered to the authorities, local resource 24.kg reported.
AKIpress reported that law enforcers, along with Atambayev, arrested his associates Kunduz Zhaldubaeva and Farid Niyazov. All of them were taken to Bishkek in several vehicles, as the road from Koi-Tasha to Bishkek was blocked by Atambayev’s supporters.
Earlier, the security forces made a third attempt to storm the house of the former head of state and managed to break into the Atambayev’s residence. He appeared after long negotiations.
Atambayev’s lawyer Sergei Slesarev told RIA Novosti that he did not know exactly where his client was being taken.
Кой-Таш
Opublikowany przez Adila Turdukulov Czwartek, 8 sierpnia 2019
https://twitter.com/akipress/status/1159449328756428800
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During the storming of Almazbek Atambayev’s residence in Kyrgyzstan on August 7, 1 person was killed and more than 50 were injured. The SWAT team made an unsuccessful attempt to seize the former president, after which Atambayev’s supporters defended him. In a televised address, he urged the Kyrgyz authorities not to “go against the people”.
“I suggest that the authorities reconsider. I would like to address the law enforcers so that they do not shoot at their own people. Your leaders may run somewhere, but it will end badly for you. Don’t shoot,” Atambayev urged people on the “April” TV channel.
He also said that he was ready to answer all the questions of law enforcement officials, that he was not involved in corruption, while the cynicism of the authorities looked to him impressive. At the same time, it is known that Atambayev had never reacted to lawsuits filed with the prosecutor’s office and demands to testify in a number of criminal cases.
“In order to silence Atambayev, you want to put him under arrest and finally kill him? The authorities are already going to shoot civilians,” he said.
Atambayev thanked the people who came to his aid and prevented him from being captured “dead or alive”.
“We are not the kind of people who will live on their knees. We are not collective farm sheep, the citizens of Kyrgyzstan are independent people for whom the honour is more precious than life. And the authorities need to understand this, to come to their senses and move to the legal field,” Atambayev repeated.
On the morning of August 8, it became known that the current president of Kyrgyzstan, Sooranbai Zheenbekov, interrupted his vacation and returned to Bishkek to hold a meeting of the Security Council, TASS reported. At the meeting, the head of state said that Atambayev “grossly violated the Constitution”. Addressing the members of the Security Council, he stressed “the need to implement all measures to respect the rule of law, peace and security in the country, which requires immediate action”.
The agency also reports with reference to the Ministry of Health of Kyrgyzstan that the number of victims has increased to 52 people.
The local outlet kaktus.media reports that as of Thursday morning, 6 siloviks remained hostage at the Atambayev residence. According to the media, Atambayev said that his supporters did not have weapons, he fired several shots himself, but tried not to hit people. The former president said he was ready to help the special forces and asked supporters to hand them over to law enforcement agencies, promising to do so on August 8.
On the evening of August 7, the special forces attempted to storm Atambayev’s house in the village of Koi-Tash, 20km from Bishkek, to detain the former president, but supporters managed to protect him. Shots were fired, resulting in 50 casualties, and one special forces soldier dying from wounds.
Almazbek Atambayev was president of Kyrgyzstan from 2011 to 2017. He is now charged with corruption, illegal enrichment, land acquisition and the illegal release of Aziz Batukaнev from prison in 2013.
