During the clashes that swept Kazakhstan in early January 2022, tens of Kyrgyzstanis were detained.
In the evening of January 10, a lot of journalists and police officers gathered at the checkpoint “Ak Zhol” of the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border. They all came to meet Vikram Ruzakhunov detained by Kazakh police officers during mass clashes in Almaty.
The detention of the Kyrgyzstani became known on January 9. The television of Kazakhstan showed the video footage where the beaten man said that he came to Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan to take part in the protest. According to the detainee, unknown persons offered 200 dollars to him for participation in violence. On January 2, he was allegedly bought a ticket to Almaty and was placed in one apartment together with the natives of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The name of the detainee was not named, but Kyrgyzstanis saw it was a popular jazz musician and pianist Vikram Ruzakhunov. He regularly visited Kazakhstan with concerts and on January 2 he was there. This turn of events literally stirred up the society of Kyrgyzstan. Relatives and close one of the artist protested in front of the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Bishkek and demanded to free the detainee and urged the official bodies to give an estimate to the fact that law-enforcement bodies of Kazakhstan were spreading unreliable information about the Kyrgyzstani.
The foreign ministry of Kyrgyzstan voiced its protest and demanded to free Vikram. However, the interior ministry of Kazakhstan said it was not Ruzakhunov on the video, but some Zakir Yuburov. However, the video footage with the confession of the Kyrgyzstani was deleted, and Vikram Ruzakhunov was freed and delivered to his native land.
As soon as he arrived at Kyrgyzstan, the musician said to journalists that bruises on his face were the result of harsh detention, and that he decided to perjure himself after he heard that he would be extradited to Bishkek in this case.
Zakir Yuburov, who was initially claimed by the interior ministry of Kazakhstan to be Ruzakhunov, was detained on January 7 at the post when he was going back to Kyrgyzstan.
Commenting the detention of Ruzakhunov, experts called the case “egregious” and “highly alarming.” According to political analyst Emil Dzhuraev, officers in the countries where power grab was attempted can use such methods of artificial detention of guilty ones.
“This is a deplorable situation. Therefore, all of us, the authorities and the public of Kyrgyzstan must strictly protect our citizens who stay in Kazakhstan,” the expert said.
In turn, Medet Tyulegenov, lecturer in political science in AUCA, said that detention of Ruzakhunov occurred so that resolute steps of the authorities against protesters could be justified. According to him, the authorities of Kazakhstan had to show that this was not a civil commotion, but the event inspired by external forces with participation of paid, hired, marauding people.
“Luckily, Ruzakhunov turned out to be a famous person in Kazakhstan and his case revealed how framed up the actions against protesters in Kazakhstan were,” Tyulegenov said.
During the peak of mass clashes, the information space of Kazakhstan reported that well-trained militants were allegedly brought from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The official authorities said that “foreign militants were mainly from Central Asian countries, including Afghanistan.”
There is still no information about detentions of citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. However, we know about tens of detained Kyrgyzstanis. On January 11, four citizens of Kyrgyzstan will be released in Almaty. Earlier, 38 Kyrgyzstanis were detained in Shymkent and then released after checking. At the same city, another Kyrgyzstani, Baialy Torogeldiev, was beaten during the interrogation by police officers, according to the Ombudsman Institute of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Reaction of officials
During the protest in front of the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Bishkek, the head of GKNB, Kamchybek Tashiev, said “it was wrong to accuse our citizens of terrorism.” President Sadyr Zhaparov wrote on his page on Facebook that he gave relevant instructions to ministries as soon as first messages about Vikram Ruzakhunov appeared.
On January 10, the member countries of CSTO held a session, where Sadyr Zhaparov was supposed to take part. However, in the peak of the crisis in the neighbouring country, the president of Kyrgyzstan took a short leave unexpectedly. According to the statement released by his press service, “the head of state continues to get updates on the situation in the country and region, keeps in touch with the heads of the cabinet of ministers and other state bodies.”
The head of government, Akylbek Zhaparov, took part in the meeting instead of Sadyr Zhaparov. In his speech, he focused on the fact that the media and social networks spread information about involvement of Kyrgyzstanis in violence and clashes in Kazakhstan. Akylbek Zhaparov expressed his hope that “every single case would be investigated openly and fairly.”
According to political analyst Emil Dzhuraev, Kazakhstan can have nearly one hundred thousand Kyrgyzstanis based on various estimates.
“However, it is absolutely wrong and unacceptable to exploit this fact and suspect the Kyrgyzstanis in participation in illegal actions,” the expert said. “In this situation, we can only keep on saying that all our citizens need to be considered non-guilty and uninvolved into any illegal actions until their guilt has been proved.”
Closer to the afternoon of January 11, consul-general of Kyrgyzstan in Kazakhstan Nazarali Aripov said to journalists that all those detained in Almaty would be released on Tuesday.
Public image of Kyrgyzstan on the world stage and Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan relations
According to Medet Tyulegenov, a case of Vikram Ruzakhunov and detention of Kyrgyzstanis in Kazakhstan may have impact on the public image of Kyrgyzstan.
“This is a slap because Kyrgyzstan, according to the media messages, now looks like a country that supplies so-called marauding elements to neighbouring countries for protests,” the expert said. “This is not quite good for us.”
Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences Zainidin Kurmanov shares the same opinion.
“In the 21st century, developed countries have other trends and directions, which means that hunger and other issues should be solved not on the streets, by means of riots, uprisings and army coups, but by means of political institutions,” he said. “However, we are the country known for our three revolutions.”
According to Kurmanov, the authorities of not only Kyrgyzstan but also of other former Soviet countries should not make the mistakes of the past again in order to improve their positions, but they should establish dialogue with the society, businesses, settle down to a course of development, and solve social problems of the people.
As to the perspective of Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan relations, experts share the opinion that it is too early to arrive at conclusions, but good relations should be maintained. According to Emil Dzhuraev, it will be very difficult to make any forecasts of further actions of the authorities of Kazakhstan.
“Obviously, this time will be very difficult for our neighbour. Anyway, both countries will always understand the importance of good relations,” the expert said. “Even if there are any immediate misunderstandings on both sides, I think they would not affect longer-term relations.”
In turn, Zainidin Kurmanov noted that the countries go through changing regimes, changing powers, but peoples remain the same.
“We have common ties with the people of Kazakhstan, we have common ancient history, historical past, culture, religion,” he said.
However, according to experts, Kyrgyzstan needs to learn lessons from the events in Kazakhstan. According to Medet Tyulegenov, we should not forget what caused this situation in the neighbouring republic.
“These were social and economic demands, namely price increase, living standards, and so on,” the expert said. “Almost the same social situation is in Kyrgyzstan now.”
According to Tyulegenov, in Kyrgyzstan, concern about social situation is the trigger that can cause protests any time based on all revolutions and numerous protests.