A Kyrgyz court rejected a request by government critic and journalist Oljobai Shakir (aka Egemberdiev) to be transferred to house arrest as his trial resumed on March 18. Shakir was arrested in August last year on a charge of online calls for mass unrest. Days before his arrest, Shakir criticized the government’s decision to hand four spa centers near the lake of Issyk-Kul to Uzbekistan and called President Sadyr Japarov and the State Committee of National Security chief Kamchybek Tashiev to participate in public debates with him. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, click here.
Kyrgyz Court Rejects Jailed Government Critic's Request For House Arrest
Oljobai Shakir (in cell) and his lawyer appear in Bishkek City Court on September 13.