BISHKEK -- Kyrgyzstan's Foundation on Directing State Property (MMBF) says it has confiscated the luxury compound of jailed former President Almazbek Atambaev.
According to the MMBF, the compound, located in the village of Koi-Tash near Bishkek, was officially taken into state hands last month, while bailiffs arrived on May 30 to document all property details.
Atambaev's lawyers say the confiscation was done without informing their client and therefore illegal.
Members of Atambaev's Social Democratic Party have said that the former president decided to turn his former residence into a sports and recreation center for children.
The MMBF says that is not possible, as the state plans to set up a nursing home for the elderly at the site.
In August 2019, Atambaev and his supporters clashed with law enforcement officers at the compound after the former president refused to obey three summons to appear at the Interior Ministry for questioning about the 2013 release of notorious crime boss Aziz Batukaev.
The standoff between security forces and his supporters resulted in the death of a senior security officer and more than 170 injuries -- 79 of them sustained by law enforcement officers.
Authorities launched a probe into the deadly standoff and charged Atambaev and 13 of his supporters with murder, attempted murder, threatening or assaulting representatives of the authorities, hostage taking, and the forcible seizure of power.
Atambaev is also on trial on a separate charge of attempting to seize power during anti-government protests in October 2020 that were sparked by a controversial parliamentary election seen by many as rigged.
Atambaev, who was serving an 11-year prison term he was handed earlier that year for his role in the illegal release of Batukaev, was set free during the protests and joined them along with several other politicians. He was later rearrested.
The 65-year-old Atambaev denies any wrongdoing.