RTSun, 09 Jan 2022 13:57 UTC
© sadyr_japarov/Instagram
Kyrgyzstan is protesting the arrest of artist over deadly riots in neighboring country.Crowds gathered outside Kazakhstan's embassy in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, on Sunday, demanding that Kazakh authorities release well-known jazz musician Vikram Ruzakhunov, after he appeared in a "confession" video.
A man with bruised face shown by Kazakhstani media, identified as the touring performer, was shown admitting to having been paid to participate in a protest that led to riots. Concerns were expressed that the clip was recorded under duress.
"He's not a terrorist. He's an ordinary citizen, a musician, a decent man," Kamchybek Tashiyev, head of the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security, told reporters at the protest. "We checked through all of our channels this morning: Vikram Ruzakhunov didn't participate in riots and street marches."Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov shared a photo of Ruzakhunov on social media, vowing to "firmly defend and protect" Kyrgyz nationals who were "unfairly" held responsible for the unrest in the neighboring Central Asian country. At the same time, Japarov admitted that some Kyrgyz migrant workers living in Kazakhstan may have participated in protests there.Kazakh officials arrested over 5,000 people following a wave of riots and street fighting that has gripped the nation this week. The disturbances, which started shortly after New Year with protests against fuel price hikes, led to casualties among rioters and law enforcement. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev claimed that the country was attacked by foreign "criminals and terrorists." The Russian-led regional security bloc CSTO deployed a multinational force to help Nur-Sultan quell the unrest.
On Sunday, Kazakh TV showed what appeared to be an interrogation video of a detainee with a heavily bruised face who said that he had been recruited by "strangers" to "participate in a protest rally." The man introduced himself as an unemployed resident of Kyrgyzstan, saying that recruiters bought him a plane ticket to Almaty, Kazakhstan's former capital and largest city, and promised 90,000 Kazakhstani tenge ($205). He added that he arrived in Almaty on January 2, but "got scared" when the protests began, and was arrested while trying to return home.Relatives, and later Kyrgyz officials, identified the man in the video as Ruzakhunov, who was described as a local pianist, as well as a director of a jazz band and a jazz festival in Bishkek. The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry quoted Ruzakhunov's relatives as saying that he often toured Almaty in the past and was invited to the country for a concert. The musician bought a plane ticket in mid-December and took off for Almaty on the evening of January 2, the ministry said in a statement, adding that it was working to determine the events surrounding Ruzakhunov's arrest. His relatives suggest that he may have been tortured.Kazakh officials have so far not commented on the matter.
Comment: UPDATE: Ruzakhunov has
been released:
© Sputnik Казахстан
A Kyrgyz jazz musician has been released from custody by Kazakhstani security officials after appearing in a "confession" video, in which he admitted to taking part in violent demonstrations for payment, media reported on Monday.
Vikram Ruzakhunov was accused of terrorism by the Kazakh authorities, a charge leveled against thousands of demonstrators who took part in last week's anti-government protests, which eventually turned into rioting and looting. The jazz musician's identity was revealed on Sunday when Kazakhstani media released a video of the performer with a bruised face, where he verbally conceded being a paid protestor. Concerns were expressed that the clip was recorded under duress.
Kyrgyzstan is a neighbor of Kazakhstan, and Ruzakhunov is well known in both nations.
Following a public outcry, protests, and statements by Kyrgyz officials, Ruzakhunov was released on Monday morning and is reportedly being taken back to his native country.
In Kazakhstan they refused to transfer the mysterious biological laboratory under the protection of the Russian army.
Despite the very high risk of terrorists entering the territory of a biological laboratory in Kazakhstan during a coup attempt by jihadists, it has been learned that the Russian army has been denied the protection of this structure and the complex of buildings. associated with it. According to the previously reported data, we are talking about an American biological laboratory, which could be guarded by American mercenaries, in connection with which the presence in this important structure has been denied to the Russian military and the peacekeepers of other CSTO countries.
“During the Alma-Ata pogroms, local media reported how strangers opened windows and headed to the first floor of a strategically important facility. We are talking about the Kazakh Science Center for Quarantine and Zone Research. Aikimbaev (the Central Reference Laboratory operates on its basis). Subsequently, the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan denied the information.
During the days of the pogroms, there were people in RCB protective suits on its territory - perhaps the staff have just been evacuated, although there is now no activity in the facility. At the time of the agreement on the list of important strategic objects that should have been protected by the peacekeepers of the CSTO CRRF, the biological laboratory of Alma-Ata was canceled., - reports "Telegram" - channel "Rybar".
Previously, there were several reports that there were foreign soldiers on the territory of the biological laboratory, who, probably, were guarding this object, however, at the current time there is no direct evidence that during the terrorist attack, foreign mercenaries of the service could be in the building, security, not yet.
It is not known what kind of research American scientists can conduct in a biolab, however, taking into account a variety of information, we are even talking about artificially created viruses...................................
Probably, the government of Kazakhstan hides the loss of particularly dangerous reagents, the development and study of which are conducted by employees of this Pentagon-sponsored organization.
According to ЕАDaily, more than $ 400 million has been invested in the construction and development of a biological laboratory in Kazakhstan over the past 6 years, and the United States Department of Defense has allocated an additional $ 20 million for a dozen studies related to pathogens and viruses deadly to man. Considering that the international airport is only 4km away, radical elements who have captured dangerous pathogens can commit a terrorist attack that will lead to the deaths of hundreds, if not tens of thousands of people.