BISHKEK (TCA) — Authorities in Kyrgyzstan have launched a new case against fugitive opposition politician and former presidential candidate Omurbek Babanov.
Babanov is suspected of plotting riots and the seizure of power in the Central Asian country, Kyrgyz State National Security Committee spokesman Rakhat Sulaimanov told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service on March 28.
A businessman who finished second in the October 2017 presidential election, Babanov left the country after the authorities launched an investigation on charges that he incited ethnic hatred during the campaign.
President Sooronbai Jeenbekov, the ruling-party candidate, won the election with backing from outgoing leader Almazbek Atambayev and took office in November.
Babanov, whose current whereabouts is unknown, has alleged the vote was marred by violations.
International election monitors said that “numerous and significant problems were noted” during the vote count and that “misuse of public resources, pressure on voters, and vote buying remain a concern.”
Babanov commented on the new charges against him. “I state with full responsibility that neither I nor my party members nor my supporters have ever had intentions for illegal actions,” he wrote on his Facebook page on March 29.
Babanov said that he had conducted a clean and fair election campaign, and all the citizens saw the sincerity of his intentions. “The seizure of power in this way is simply absurd,” Babanov stressed.
“I repeat once more: we have held truly competitive elections, and they have a winner,” Babanov said.
