Prison riots quelled, say officials

Inmates rioted in several prisons in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday, with at least three convicts killed when security forces tried to quell protests in the penal institutions, officials say. From early in the day the Moldovanovka jail near the capital, Bishkek, was surrounded by security forces, roads to the prison were blocked and eye-witnesses reported gunshots coming from the prison. A few hours later, inmates at other prisons started rioting to protest against the operation to quell disturbances in the Moldovanovka prison. Kyrgyz media reported that in another prison in the north convicts tried to escape and at least two of them were shot by prison guards. In the south, some inmates in Jalal-Abad’s penal institution reportedly went on hunger strike and mutilated themselves in solidarity with prisoners in Moldovanovka. “The new head of prisons administration was wounded when he attempted to enter this prison. A bullet-proof jacket saved him from death, but he was wounded on the hand. The prison administration reported three convicts were killed,” deputy Ombudsman Sadyk Sherniyaz said on Tuesday. “I just came from this [Moldovanovka] prison and can confirm order has been restored there,” deputy Ombudsman Sadyk Sherniyaz said on Tuesday. “It was an operation to remove the notorious criminal leader Aziz Batukaev from the jail, who is under investigation in the case of killed lawmaker Tynychbek Akmatbaev,” Sherniyaz added. Akmatbaev, head of the parliamentary committee on defence and law enforcement, was killed on 20 October while visiting the Moldovanovka prison. Three other members of the delegation led by the slain legislator were killed as well, while the head of Kyrgyzstan's prisons administration, Ikmatulla Polotov, escorting the group, was seriously injured and later died. The group had gone to the prison to inspect living conditions and listen to the demands of protesting convicts. The Kyrgyz Akipress news agency reported 20 convicts were wounded in prison number 8 in the north and around 30 convicts in southern Jalal-Abad prison needed medical help. A wave of protests in Kyrgyzstan’s burgeoning penal system took place in October, with inmates protesting against poor living conditions, malnutrition and a lack of medical treatment. Deputy prosecutor, Gen Khabibula Abdugaparov told reporters that due to the poor economic situation in the country, convicts were allowed to receive parcels and in-kind assistance from their relatives daily. With corruption not uncommon in the prison system, some of them managed to pass banned items to those inside the jail, including weapons and drugs. Security forces impounded several submachine guns, grenades, rifles and drugs, according to officials.