A court in Kyrgyzstan on Friday ordered the nation's ex-president to remain in custody pending trial on corruption charges as calm returned to the country's capital following a strong crackdown by police.
The arrest of Almazbek Atambayev sparked two days of riots that left one policeman dead and over 100 people injured, raising fears of instability in the strategically placed Central Asian nation that borders China and hosts a Russian military air base. However, the police action demonstrated that the government appears firmly in charge.
Atambayev, who was in office from 2011 to 2017, has been stripped of the immunity from prosecution he enjoyed as a former president and faces a slew of charges, including corruption and the expropriation of property.
