BISHKEK, November 1 (RIA Novosti, Yulia Orlova) - Riot police in Kyrgyzstan are still hopeful they will be able to deal peacefully with the inmate unrest that has engulfed several prisons across the republic, a source at the Kyrgyz Penitentiary Service said Tuesday.
According to the source, Kyrgyzstan's law-enforcement authorities have the capability of quelling the inmate insurrections that erupted Tuesday morning in at least seven high-security penitentiaries and detention centers, but will try to restore order without resorting to military force.
The situation has been reportedly brought under control at prisons in the city of Osh, in the southern Jalal Abad region and in the village of Petrovka, outside the capital of Bishkek.
Tuesday's riots were triggered by an early-morning police raid on the Moldovanovka penitentiary, 12 miles north of Bishkek, following the October 20 killing by local inmates of MP Tynychbek Akmatbayev and three other visiting officials.
The raid was launched to move criminal boss Aziz Batukayev from the facility's hospital to a detention center in the capital. The other inmates opened fire in protest. The shootout left 20 prisoners dead and a high-ranking police officer wounded.
Justice Minister Marat Kaiypov said in a radio interview that Batukayev's transfer had been authorized by the Prosecutor General.
