Kyrgyz ex-president Atambayev was plotting coup: security chief

Former Kyrgyzstan president Almazbek Atambayev, who was detained in a raid on his residence in Bishek last week, was seeking to overthrow the government, according to the head of the country’s security services.

Atambayev was detained in a massive security operation on Thursday after a previous attempt to detain him a day earlier failed amid clashes between his supporters and law enforcement that left one special forces officer dead.

“His intention was a state coup. I say that officially,” Orozbek Opumbayev, the head of the national security services GKNB, told a news conference in Bishkek on Tuesday.

Last week’s raids came after Atambayev ignored three police summons for questioning in connection with the release of a well-known underworld figure during his presidency. 

Atambayev, who served as president from 2011 to 2017, was stripped of his immunity from prosecution in June in the wake of corruption allegations.

The 62-year-old has rejected the charges and accused the current authorities of abuse of office.

Friend turned foe

The Central Asian state, which has seen two revolutions in less than two decades, is caught in a standoff between the former leader and his protege-turned-foe President Sooronbai Jeenbekov.

Jeenbekov and Atambayev were once friends, and the former leader backed the incumbent in the 2017 election, triggering accusations that administrative resources were used to sway the vote.

The current crisis has drawn in Russia – the country’s Soviet-era master and traditional political patron – where hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz work as migrant labourers.

Last month Russian President Vladimir Putin met with both Jeenbekov and Atambayev in Moscow in a bid to defuse the confrontation.