Kyrgyz Prosecutor-General Fired

Kambaraly Kongantiev (file photo) (RFE/RL) March 19, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Kyrgyzstan's President Kurmanbek Bakiev today dismissed Prosecutor-General Kambaraly Kongantiev, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported.

The cause of the dismissal remains unclear.


But the head of the Kyrgyz nongovernmental human rights organization Kylym shamy (Torch of the Century), Aziza Abdyrasulova, told RFE/RL that the move was connected to Kongantiev's poor performance in the investigation of the 2002 Aksy tragedy in which security forces killed six protesters.


"This is the fact that [Kongantiev] could not wrap up all the cases related to the Aksy events and he could not fulfill the tasks given by [Bakiev], and also there was an outcry by Aksy district residents [regarding the prosecutor's performance]," she said.


Kyrgyz opposition and human rights activists have also been calling for Kongantiev's dismissal in connection with the deportation of Uzbek refugees last year and his performance in corruption cases involving family members of former President Askar Akaev.


(with material from AKIpress, ITAR-TASS)

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