Among those arrested are former officials, human rights defenders and prominent public figures in Kyrgyzstan, Russian news agency TASS reported.

The country’s one-time Prosecutor General and ambassador to Malaysia, Azimbek Beknazarov, as well as former Interior Minister Keneshbek Duishebayev, are two of the most prominent figures arrested by Kyrgyz authorities.

Along with Beknazarov and Duishebayev, 20 other people are also being held in custody until the end of December, judicial authorities said.

Kyrgyz police searched houses and detained politicians, human rights activists, public figures and former officials on suspicion of organizing mass riots.

All the detainees actively opposed the transfer of the Kempir-Abad reservoir to Uzbekistan as part of the demarcation and delimitation of the common border section.

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