Authorities in Kyrgyzstan have charged powerful ex-national security chief Kamchybek Tashiyev with plotting to overthrow President Sadyr Japarov by force and seize power.

Seven others face the same charge, but their identities have been withheld.  Tashiyev's lawyer, Ikramidin Aytkulov, on May 12 confirmed ⁠the charges in a post on Facebook. He said the trial ​would be held behind closed doors, with reporting banned. The charges carry ​a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Japarov, a northerner, and Tashiyev, a tough-talking southerner sometimes referred to as the “People’s General”, ruled the country of 7.4mn in a power tandem after taking office following a revolution in late 2020. Kyrgyzstan has a history of volatile rivalry between its north and south and analysts have cautioned that the case could reignite tensions. Since moving against Tashiyev in early February, while he was out of the country for a medical appointment in Germany, Japarov has mounted a wide-ranging purge against Tashiyev’s allies across the State Committee for National Security (SCNS, or GKNB), other state structures and parliament.

Last November, IntelliNews reported on how freelance journalist and Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center analyst Galiya Ibragimova had concluded in a commentary that there was growing unease between Japarov and Tashiyev.

The next presidential election in the Kyrgyz Republic is due next January and Ibragimova warned in her assessment that Tashiyev was “rapidly expanding his own authority, which is now starting to exceed that of the president at times”.

She added: “In Kyrgyz politics, which is so personalized, this has inevitably sparked rumors that the country’s top security official may have presidential ambitions of his own, and even speculation that the upcoming parliamentary elections [which took place at the end of November] could be a rehearsal for a power struggle between Japarov and Tashiyev.”

Among Tashiyev allies who have been dislodged and interrogated amid the purge are a former speaker of ​parliament.

Tashiyev on May 12 made no public ‌comment ⁠on the accusations though in recent weeks he has called for calm from his supporters, saying he would be cleared by the court.

The revolution in 2020 was the third seen in the country in 15 years, with prior revolutions experienced in 2005 and 2010.

Japarov ​and Tashiyev’s partnership was nationalist-populist in character and brought crackdowns on the opposition, independent media and NGOs with foreign backing. The ruling duo were accused of aping some of Moscow’s repressive laws.

Kyrgyzstan has experienced extremely fast economic growth in recent years, partly thanks to Russia’s use of the country as a useful trade route for imports that were cut off by Western sanctions in response to its war in Ukraine. The European Union lately sanctioned Kyrgyzstan after becoming concerned over surging growth in it re-exports of dual-use goods that can be used by the Russian military-industrial complex.

As word of the European sanctions spread, Japarov was in Moscow meeting Putin.