A parliamentarian was killed while touring a prison, protestors took to the streets to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Kulov, an extraordinary session of parliament was almost held to that end, and it’s coming out that the assassination might have political implications much more far ranging than at first glance. This also follows government plans to possibly illegalize protests. What’s going on in Kyrgyzstan? New Eurasia has a roundup.

Saturday saw protests on the main square, Ploshchad Ala-Too, by supporters of the murdered deputy Tynchbek Akmatbaev, who called for Kulov’s resignation . Riots began earlier this week, as MosNews reports, when inmates began protests for improved living conditions, during which at least 2 inmates were killed. Parliamentary deputy Tynchbek Akmatbaev and his assistant were shot dead on Friday during a visit to the maximum security colony. RFE/RL reported on October 20 that Prime Minister Feliks Kulov had managed to reach an agreement with prisoners, persuading them to hand over the bodies of those killed and stop rioting. However, the situation does not look good, with Reuters reporting on October 21 that orders have been given for all staff to evacuate the prisons, leaving the colonies surrounded by security forces. RFE/RL in a separate report noted that an extraordinary session was held yesterday in the Zhogorku Kenesh to discuss the riots and killings, during which it was asserted that the deputy’s death was the result of a conflict between criminal groups, of which Akmatbaev’s brother is a member. It was also decided to allocate an extra USD 2.5 million from the state budget to improve prison conditions. However, the matter continues to generate controversy, with Kulov being forced to defend his postion on Saturday as calls for his resignation continues and the possibily of further unrest remains.

The most worrying part about this is the possibility the Prime Minister Kulov, being extensively involved with the security apparatus, is tied to organized crime and may have had Akmatbaev taken out. Who knows at this point, really, but some journalists seem to be really looking into that lead. He has always been a questionable character, and following the Tulip Revolution most people greeted his rise with skepticism. The Institute for War and Peace Reporting has more on this.

While the murder of Akmatbaev looks like a confrontation which got out of hand, some observers claim it is no coincidence that it occurred in a prison which houses a convicted underworld figure, Aziz Batukaev, known to have been on bad terms with the politician’s brother Ryspek Akmatbaev.

For their part, the Akmatbaev camp are claiming that Prime Minister Kulov, a former security minister and later opposition leader, was connected with Batukaev. The prime minister used his press conference to deny this explicitly, saying he met Batukaev only when he went in to the prison to negotiate the return of the bodies.

The mutual recriminations are likely to continue, whatever the truth that lies behind them.

But for some observers, the whole affair is symptomatic of the profound flaws in a society where the connections between politics and organised crime are often uncomfortably close.

According to Tolekan Ismailova, head of the non-government human rights group Citizens Against Corruption, says, “we have a systemic crisis in the penitentiary system, exacerbated by the fact that funding from underworld figures was used in the March revolution”.

Now that the revolution is over, organised criminals seem to be undergoing the same process of redrawing spheres of influence and economic power that followed the ousting of President Askar Akaev. “This process is also under way in the criminal world, since they too have their unwritten laws, and their own spheres of influence,” said deputy Tayirbek Sarpashev.

“Our leaders are well aware that the crime world and the authorities are in cahoots on certain matters, but that’s seen as being in the natural order of things,” added Communist Party leader Orozbek Duysheev. “We can see the consequences. Things shouldn????????t be that way.”

So far the protests and calls for resignation have produced the firing of a few interior ministry officials, sums of money for refurbishing the prisons, and promises promises promises. This may be simply be a protest over terrible prison conditions or it may actually be something more sinister, as the article and others suggest. But I would like to see this followed up on and will continue to monitor what happens. You never know what’s really going on in Central Asia a lot of the time.