Letter from November 22
In the letter written on November 22, Kadyrbek Atambaev claims that there were no calls for mass unrest from his side; he and his colleagues merely supported the parliamentary candidate Kiyal Toktorbaeva in the Sverdlovsk district.“On November 22 at 07:00, about ten special forces officers burst into our apartment without introducing themselves or explaining the reasons for the detention,” he writes in his letter. He also notes that the actions of the investigative authorities were accompanied by violations, and he was not allowed to call a lawyer.
Letter from November 23
In the following letter dated November 23, Kadyrbek Atambaev reported that the charges against him had changed from "calls for mass unrest" to "attempted violent overthrow of the government."“The basis for this accusation was that I mentioned on my social media page the rise in food prices and the difficulties in the energy sector. This is simply absurd,” he writes.
Atambaev also clarifies that he did not raise the issue of "problems in the energy sector," but filed an official complaint with the General Prosecutor's Office regarding the operation of a mining farm, which, according to him, is controlled by the people of Shirshov and Maxim Bakiev. He links his detention to this situation.
Furthermore, he emphasizes that his publications about food prices and the economic situation were analytical and based on data from the World Bank, IMF, and EBRD.
“How can this be equated to ‘attempts to violently seize power?’” he poses a rhetorical question.
Atambaev calls his case a "theater of the absurd," noting that scientific articles, social media posts, and a lawsuit against Shirshov have become the basis for serious charges.
