Kyrgyzstan authorities detain opposition figures ahead of snap election

BISHKEK (Reuters) -Kyrgyz law enforcement on Saturday carried out a series of arrests, searches and interrogations of opposition figures and journalists as part of what authorities said was a probe into calls for “mass unrest” ahead of a snap parliamentary election on Nov 30.

Though authorities did not link the arrests to the upcoming election, the vote is expected to consolidate the power of President Sadyr Japarov, a populist and nationalist who has clamped down on dissent in what was traditionally Central Asia’s most democratic country.

Several of those targeted are allies of former president Almazbek Atambayev, who governed the mountainous country of 7 million from 2011 to 2017.

Atambayev’s wife and son were summoned for interrogation, while several former lawmakers seem as allies of the former president, who lives in exile in Spain, were detained.

Opposition figures describe the latest actions as politically motivated repression, while authorities say they are carrying out lawful criminal investigations.

In late October, a Kyrgyz court labelled three major independent media outlets as “extremist organisations” and banned their operations, a move that rights groups described as placing unprecedented pressure on journalists. They say that the decision reflects growing restrictions on freedom of expression in the country.

Parties loyal to Japarov are expected to do well in this month’s election, with the president having presided over a rapidly growing economy, fuelled in part by Kyrgyzstan’s role in facilitating imports to Russia redirected by Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

(Reporting by Aigerim Turgunbaeva, writing by Felix Light, Editing by William Maclean)