Preliminary hearings of the criminal case on the riots in October 2020 continue in the Pervomaisky District Court of Bishkek.
During today’s hearing, the lawyer of the leader of Turan party Zhenish Moldokmatov, Kantemir Turdaliev, filed a motion to change the measure of restraint for his client.
The lawyer motivated the request by health problems of the defendant, in addition, his client has an elderly dependent mother and three children. Kantemir Turdaliev asked the court to place Moldokmatov under house arrest.
The accused himself stated that he was held in the pre-trial detention center unreasonably and unfairly. According to Zhenish Moldokmatov, the criminal case is politically motivated.
«I am accused of seizure of power. But, in fact, there was no power until October 15. It was not me who negotiated the release of the former president Almazbek Atambayev. I also consider the accusation that I wanted to seize the building of the State Committee for National Security as absurd,» he said.
Leaving the deliberation room, the judge Ubaidulla Satimkulov did not grant the lawyer’s petition. Zhenish Moldokmatov will be in custody until the end of the trial.
Rallies were held on October 5-6, 2020 against falsification of the parliamentary elections results. Then riots broke out. The Central Election Commission was forced to annul the election results on October 6. Several convicted politicians were released from prisons.
On October 9, Almazbek Atambayev, his supporters, Omurbek Babanov and others announced another rally. A scuffle broke out on the square between supporters of Sadyr Japarov and the former president.
Later, the State Committee for National Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs detained many of them, including Almazbek Atambayev, activist Temirlan Sultanbekov, ex-chief of staff of the head of state Farid Niyazov, former employee of the Ninth Service of the State Committee for National Security Kanat Sagymbaev, ex-deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Kursan Asanov. Some of them are still in custody, the others were placed under house arrest.
