BISHKEK -- Renat Makenov, a former deputy mayor of the Kyrgyz capital who is facing corruption charges, has been transferred from prison to house arrest.
The Supreme Court said on August 28 that the decision was made the previous day by Bishkek's Birinchi Mai district court.
Makenov and Bishkek's former Mayor Albek Ibraimov were detained in July and charged with abuse of office, financial irregularities, and illegal property sales.
Makenov and Ibraimov are close allies of former President Almazbek Atambaev.
Former prime ministers Jantoro Satybaldiev and Sapar Isakov, who served during Atambaev's tenure, were arrested in June in connection with a corruption case.
In April, President Sooronbai Jeenbekov fired several of Atambaev's allies, including Prosecutor-General Indira Joldubaeva and the head of the State Committee for National Security, Abdil Segizbaev, who had been criticized for a crackdown on opposition politicians and independent journalists.
The pressure on Atambaev's allies is seen as evidence of a rift between Atambaev and Jeenbekov, an ex-prime minister who was tapped by Atambaev as his favored successor in Kyrgyzstan's October 2017 presidential election but who has clashed with his former boss in recent months.
