BISHKEK. Aug 8 (Interfax) - Law enforcement agents had no right to detain Almazbek Atambayev, because he continues to enjoy the immunity, and his rights are protected by the Constitution, lawyer for the ex-Kyrgyz president Sergei Slesarev said.
"According to the Criminal Procedure Code, no former head of state may be detained because of the immunity that heads of state enjoy. Therefore, Atambayev's detention is unlawful," Slesarev told Interfax on Thursday.
"The rights of the former president are protected by the Constitution, and the parliament had no power to strip him of immunity since there were no legal grounds for that," he said.
Slesarev pledged that he would "continue defending Atambayev's rights," but said that he did not know where the ex-Kyrgyz president was being taken from Koi-Tash at that moment and what the grounds for his detention were.
Meanwhile, the 24.kg news agency reported earlier that police had escorted Atambayev to the Chief Investigative Directorate of the Interior Ministry, where he was supposed to be questioned about the taking of hostages and the murder of the deputy commander of the Alfa unit during the storming of his house in Koi-Tash.