November 01, 2005, 10:30 Society

Authoritative rebellion

Anastasia Makryashina Mass unrest began again in the Kyrgyz colonies. Prisoners rebelled against the removal of more than 20 local crime bosses from Penitentiary Colony-31 near Bishkek. In response, the authorities used weapons. According to unofficial data, 20 people died in colony No. 31 alone. The riot continues.

On Tuesday, riots broke out in several correctional institutions in Kyrgyzstan. Early in the morning, information was received about a riot in colony No. 31 in the village of Moldavanovka. As RIA Novosti reports, citing a source in the Republic's GUIN, shooting is heard in the correctional facility. “It is still unclear what is happening,” said a representative of the GUIN. According to eyewitnesses, the colony is completely blocked by troops. It is also known that the rioters are demanding the arrival of an ombudsman.

A little later, local media reported that machine gun fire could also be heard in colony No. 3 in the village of Novopokrovka.

All entrances on the distant approaches to the correctional institution are blocked by special forces units and law enforcement officers of Kyrgyzstan.

According to the Kyrgyz news agency Kabar, protests began in several other zones, including a high-security colony in the village of Petrovka and correctional facilities in the Jalal-Abad region in the south of the country. According to the agency, “so far the Ministry of Justice has not officially reported on what is happening. Currently, all heads of law enforcement agencies are at the scene of events.”

Let us remind you that in IK-31 on October 20, prisoners had already started a riot. Then the criminals attacked members of the deputy commission, killing three people, including deputy of the republican parliament Tynychbek Akmatbaev. The head of the GUIN of Kyrgyzstan, Ikmatulla Polotov, was seriously wounded and died a few days later.

According to local media, just on Tuesday, GUIN employees were supposed to remove more than 20 of the largest criminal authorities of Kyrgyzstan sitting there from the territory of the Moldovanovskaya colony. They were going to be interrogated in connection with the investigation into the events of October 20.

As Interfax’s source in the GUIN stated, “given the planned nature of the protests,” it was the removal of the authorities that could have caused the unrest. At the same time, law enforcement officers guarding the approaches to correctional colony No. 3 told RIA Novosti that prisoners are demanding the return of the only thief in law of the republic, Aziz Batukaev, who was transferred from there earlier, to colony No. 31.

As the Interfax agency reports, citing a source in the security forces of Kyrgyzstan, a special operation was carried out in colony No. 31. According to the source, weapons were used against prisoners.

According to unofficial data as of 9.30, more than 20 people had already died.

“The prisoners tried to prevent a group of criminal authorities from being taken out of the zone, which was the reason for the use of weapons,” explained a law enforcement representative. According to him, “now about 20 especially dangerous criminals from the colony have been taken to the pre-trial detention center of the National Security Service.” There is no official information about what happened.

In addition, at least three convicts died during a shootout in the Petrovskaya colony. After the personnel left the zone, internal troops opened fire on the prisoners, a source in the law enforcement agencies told Interfax.

At the same time, as the Kyrgyz news agency AKIpress reports, prisoners of colony No. 8 in Petrovka claim that they did not give any reason for the “suppression” of the riot and the subsequent execution. The agency was able to contact by telephone a prisoner named Murat, who is serving his sentence in this correctional institution. According to Murat, at 6 a.m. on November 1, the colony administration lined up all the prisoners and demonstratively left the territory. In bewilderment, they went to the “administration room” (the room where they rest and eat). Immediately after this, the outer guards began firing explosive rounds into the crowd. According to Murat, a young man born in 1976 died, and two of his peers were seriously injured.

“We did not give any reason for shooting, we did not rebel, we did not carry out any actions,” the prisoner told reporters.

Now the criminals serving their sentences in this colony have declared an indefinite hunger strike. They demand human rights commissioners Tursunbai uulu Bakir and the leader of the coalition “For Democracy and Civil Society” Edil Baisalov. They also demand an explanation from the authorities as to why the fire was opened.

Now, according to Kyrgyz media reports, prisoners in most colonies have gone on hunger strike. The source said that “in a number of colonies, officially prisoners are putting forward demands to improve their social conditions.”

The leadership of the correctional system has not yet commented on the events.

Gazeta.Ru is monitoring the development of the rebellion.