BISHKEK -- The former governor of Kyrgyzstan's northern Chui region, Tuigunaaly Abdraimov, was arrested on corruption charges over the weekend.
The State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on May 1 that Abdraimov, who previously also led the Central Election Commission (BShK), had been placed in pretrial detention on suspicion of abuse of power while in office.
According to the UKMK, Abdraimov is accused of illegally obtaining 11.2 hectares of land in the Chui region to use as a landfill for a company he and his son own.
Abdraimov's lawyer, Taalaigul Toktakunova, said her client was detained on April 30, interrogated at the UKMK until midnight, and then sent to pretrial detention on May 1 even though there was no need to keep him in custody.
Opposition politician Ravshan Jeenbekov called Abdraimov's arrest politically motivated.
Jeenbekov wrote on Facebook that the charges against Abdraimov are part of the persecution of politicians who were close to jailed former President Almazbek Atambaev.
Atambaev is serving a lengthy prison term for his involvement in the illegal release of a crime boss in 2013 and is on trial on other charges that he and his supporters have called politically motivated.