Kyrgyz Parliament To Probe Attack On NGO Leader

Edil Baisalov in hospital on April 13 following the attack (Courtesy Photo) BISHKEK, April 14, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Kyrgyzstan's parliament today assumed control of the investigation into an attack on a human rights activist, Edil Baisalov, on April 12.

A parliamentary committee on security, law, and information policy ordered law-enforcement officials investigating the case to report directly to it.

Earlier, the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek urged the Kyrgyz government to "vigorously investigate" the attack, saying it
was an "assault on civil society."

The New York-based group Human Rights Watch and several Kyrgyz nongovernmental organizations also called on April 14 for a thorough probe into the attack.

Bishkek city prosecutor Uchkun Karimov today said there are three working theories about what motivated the attack, one that it was connected to Baisalov's political and public activities, another that it was "a hooligan assault with intent to rob," and a third that it was "committed out of personal enmity toward the victim."

Baisalov, head of the NGO For Democracy and Civil Society, had been organizing demonstrations against allowing criminals to enter parliament or government.