Aksy

Aksy is a small town in southern Kyrgyzstan which gained notoriety in 2002 when police and militia fired into a crowd of unarmed demonstrators, killing six. The demonstrations were triggered by a political dispute between a local member of the national parliament, Azimbek Beknazarov, and Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev over an agreement with China that ceded some territory in the high Tien Shan range to China. Local officials and police officers suspected of being involved in the shootings were later acquitted or pardoned. [cite news |title=Rights Group Concerned About Kyrgyz Aksy Events |url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/06/7144f2fa-1eec-47d0-add3-0f96316e25c0.html| date=2006-06-14 | publisher=Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty|accessdate=2007-03-17]

Beknazarov remained an implacable political enemy of Akayev. In the wake of the March 2005 Tulip Revolution which sent Akayev into exile in Russia, he was appointed Prosecutor General of the Kyrgyz Republic and waged a determined campaign against Akayev and his family, seeking the return of much of the fortune amassed by the former president's family and a repeal of Akayev's immunity for life. He resigned his position in September 2005 under a cloud of suspicion concerning alleged secret deals of money for premature closure of investigations into other misdeeds.

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