Uzbek Border Guards Release Kyrgyz Citizen

December 06, 2011
BISHKEK -- Uzbek border guards have released a Kyrgyz man two days after he was detained on December 4, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
 
Relatives of Mansurbek Bekeshov from the village of Sakaldy on the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border in the southern Kyrgyz region of Jalal-Abad told RFE/RL that the man was released after officially being found guilty by Uzbek authorities of illegally crossing the border and fined 500,000 Uzbek soms ($280).
 
Bozulan Mamyshov, head of the Kyrgyz side of the Sakaldy checkpoint, told RFE/RL earlier on December 6 that Uzbek border guards detained Bekeshov on December 4 while another Kyrgyz, whose name was not given, managed to elude the Uzbek guards and go to Kyrgyzstan.
 
Mamyshov maintained that Kyrgyz officials had been negotiating with Uzbek border guards regarding Bekeshov's release. He said Uzbek officials initially told the Kyrgyz border authorities that Bekeshov would be set free on December 5, but his release did not materialize.
 
In May, Uzbek border guards shot dead a Kyrgyz citizen in the village of Sakaldy. Nobody was prosecuted for the shooting.