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Detained ex-Kyrgyz president refuses to cooperate with investigators, his lawyer says

Atambayev was detained on Thursday in a special operation that lasted for almost 24 hours

Former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

BISHKEK, August 9. /TASS/. Former Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev, who was arrested by security services at his residence near Bishkek, has refused to cooperate with investigators, his lawyer Sergei Slesarev told reporters on Friday.

"Atambayev has refused to cooperate with investigators and has not signed any documents," the lawyer said, noting that these documents included a decision on changing a pre-trial restriction measure, a protocol of interrogation and other acts.

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Atambayev was detained on Thursday in his residence in the village of Koi-Tash in a special operation that lasted for almost 24 hours. The raid to take the former leader into custody started on Wednesday, when Kyrgyz security agents undertook an initial attempt to detain Atambayev who is suspected of corruption and was stripped of immunity. Supporters of the former president, who repeatedly refuted the accusations against him, put up very fierce resistance. As a result, one special forces officer died in the operation. According to latest reports, 98 people, including police officers, have sought medical assistance.

Kyrgyzstan's President Sooronbay Jeenbekov said that Atambayev had violated the constitution by resorting to armed resistance against the security officers. On Thursday, the operation to detain Atambayev involved several thousand police and special ops forces. After the residence in his hometown was stormed, the former leader was detained. The court ordered the arrest of the ex-president at least until August 26 and Atambayev has been taken to a pre-trial detention center of Kyrgyzstan’s State Committee for National Security.

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