BISHKEK (TCA) — The State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan has officially charged Aida Salyanova, a former prosecutor-general and now an opposition lawmaker, with abuse of office. She has been ordered not to leave the country pending the investigation of her case, 24.kg news agency reported with reference to Salyanova’s lawyer Ulan Jumakov.
The State Committee for National Security told RFE/RL on March 14 that Salyanova is suspected of illegally prolonging the license of Aleksei Eliseyev, a lawyer and close associate of former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s son, Maksim Bakiyev, in 2010.
The Committee said it issued the order after questioning her on March 13.
Salyanova, a parliament member from the opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party, has rejected the accusation, saying it is politically motivated.
She is one of at least four members of the opposition Ata-Meken party facing potential prosecution in Kyrgyzstan on what they contend are trumped-up allegations, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports.
Ata-Meken leader Omurbek Tekebaev, a former parliament speaker and a vocal opponent of President Almazbek Atambayev, is being held at the National Security Committee’s detention center and investigated on suspicion of bribe-taking and fraud.
Supporters of Tekebaev believe the investigation is aimed at preventing him from running for president in the presidential elections scheduled for this November.
Atambayev is barred from running for reelection, and opponents accuse him of seeking to maintain a hold on power by pushing through constitutional changes in a referendum that was held last December.
