BISHKEK -- Two members of a Kyrgyz group who went on trial on June 22 for protesting against a border deal with Uzbekistan have been transferred to house arrest.
The Birinchi Mai district court in Bishkek on June 23 granted the requests of lawyers of activists Rita Karasartova and Atai Beishenbek to transfer the defendants to house arrest.
In all, 27 politicians, activists, and journalists are on trial, of whom 14 now are held in a detention center in Bishkek. Others were released earlier and either transferred to house arrest or ordered not leave the city.
Kyrgyz authorities arrested the members of the so-called Kempir-Abad Defense Committee in October after they protested against the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border demarcation deal, which saw Kyrgyzstan in November hand over the territory of the Kempir-Abad water reservoir, which covers 4,485 hectares, to Uzbekistan in exchange for more than 19,000 hectares of land elsewhere.
Those arrested were charged with planning riots over the agreement, which was more than three decades in the making. Some of the arrested individuals protested against their arrest and launched hunger strikes while in pretrial detention.
If convicted, the defendants face more than 10 years in prison.
There have been several rallies in Bishkek demanding the release of the Kempir-Abad Defense Committee members.
Human rights organizations have also demanded that the Kyrgyz government release the jailed men and women and drop all charges against them, saying they were imprisoned for expressing their thoughts and opinions.
In November, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoev signed the disputed deal into law after lawmakers in both countries approved it.
The Kempir-Abad reservoir, known in Uzbekistan as the Andijon reservoir, was built in 1983. It is located in the fertile Ferghana Valley and is a vital regional water source. Uzbekistan, whose population of 35 million is five times larger than that of Kyrgyzstan, uses most of the water from the area.
Many Kyrgyz civil activists, opposition politicians, and residents living close to the reservoir’s dam have been against the deal, saying Uzbekistan should continue to be allowed to use the water, but the reservoir's land should remain within Kyrgyzstan.
Japarov and his allies claim the deal benefits Kyrgyzstan and that Kyrgyz farmers will still have access to water in the reservoir.