Kyrgyz Activist Stopped At Moscow Airport

Aziza Abdrasulova (file photo)

BISHKEK -- A prominent Kyrgyz human rights activist was stopped at Moscow's Sheremetevo Airport after border guards say they found an AK-47 bullet in her purse, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Aziza Abdrasulova, director of the nongovernmental organization Kylym shamy (Torch of the Century), told RFE/RL that she was flying back to Bishkek from Warsaw, where she took part in an annual international conference on human rights. She was changing planes in Moscow.

Abdrasulova said she was detained and was questioned for 2 1/2 hours at the Moscow airport about the origin of the bullet. She said she has no idea who put the bullet in her purse, adding that she did not have the bullet when she left Warsaw.

Abdrasulova says she believes the bullet was planted in her purse to discredit her. She called the incident a provocation.