A group of Kyrgyz opposition politicians and activists who were detained last year during protests against an agreement under which Kyrgyzstan ceded some water resources to Uzbekistan have gone on a hunger strike.
The announcement on August 21 came as court hearings took place at the Birinchi May District Court in the capital, Bishkek. The case centers around the Kempir-Abad Defense Committee, which opposes a long-standing Kyrgyz-Uzbek border demarcation deal.
Kyrgyz authorities arrested dozens of members of the committee in October 2022 after the group organized protest actions against the deal. Fourteen of the 27 activists arrested remain in pretrial detention.
Under the border demarcation deal, Kyrgyzstan in November handed over to Uzbekistan the Kempir-Abad water reservoir, which has a surface area of almost 45 square kilometers, in exchange for more than 190 square kilometers of mountainous terrain without water resources.
The Kempir-Abad Reservoir, known in Uzbekistan as the Andijon Reservoir, was built in 1983. It is located in the fertile Ferghana Valley and represents 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.
Those arrested for protesting the deal were charged with planning riots over the agreement, which had been in the making for over three decades.
The detainees have undertaken hunger strikes twice since their arrests, demanding a fair investigation and their release from custody. Azimbek Beknazarov, a politician and one of the arrested activists, has criticized the lack of access to case materials, stating that they were denied the opportunity to review the evidence against them.
"We will not participate in such an illegal trial. We appeal to the president, the Jogorku Kenesh (parliament), and international organizations. We have no choice but to go on a hunger strike," said Beknazarov.
The detainees have said they consider the criminal case against them to be political persecution for their position on the transfer of the land.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan has said the investigation has accumulated enough evidence to convict the accused.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has repeatedly said there should be a fair trial over the Kempir-Abad case and that the detainees "disturbed" people and attempted a "coup."