Kyrgyz Blogger Detained After Criticizing Faulty Road Project

The road, a project overseen by the Ministry of Transportation—headed by Absattar Syrgabayev, the godson of the head of the State Security Service—appeared to be crumbling under the strain of shoddy construction.

“Look at this, the new road is already breaking apart,” Karabayev said in the video. “It’ll be interesting to see how long it lasts. It’s crumbling over there too.”

Just hours later, he shared another video of police pulling him over for an alleged traffic violation. Though the stop was officially for overtaking, a second officer handed him a document revealing that he was under investigation for a criminal case linked to a video he posted in July.

“What is this case about?” Karabayev demanded in the video. “I haven’t been told anything. You show up in the middle of the night, and the road police are lying about me breaking the law. I haven’t received any subpoenas. What case are you talking about? You could have at least called me.”

The officers responded that they did not call him because they didn’t have his phone number.

Not long after, the video disappeared from Karabayev’s account.

Karabayev was detained for 48 hours, reportedly linked to a case of “mass riots.” Police have until then to either press formal charges or release him.

Authorities told Kloop, OCCRP’s member center in Kyrgyzstan, that the case goes back to July, when Karabayev and other villagers confronted a local cement factory demanding that foreign investors reinstate him in his former role as manager of economic and external affairs.

At the same time, he posted a video about the factory, which police claim provided grounds for a criminal case. The investigation is ongoing.

It’s unclear which video police are referring to, as Karabayev has posted several videos criticizing the factory’s environmental impact. In one, he mentioned locals’ protests against the facility, blaming it for ecological damage in the area.

This is not the first time Kyrgyz authorities have arrested journalists and bloggers over social media posts. Recently, 11 reporters from various outlets were detained on charges linked to mass riots. Earlier this month, two were sentenced to six and five years in prison, while two others received three-year probation terms. The remaining journalists were acquitted for lack of evidence.