baisalov

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, April 14 — Lying on his hospital bed, injured but alert, Edil Baisalov found himself on Thursday in a bizarre scene: nursing a head wound while watching television coverage of an attempt on his life.

Mr. Baisalov, director of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society in Kyrgyzstan, was bludgeoned as he left his office on Wednesday evening. Prime Minister Felix Kulov said the attack was an assassination attempt against a man fighting the Kyrgyz mafia.

The attack appeared to underline the strength of crime figures who have tried to insinuate themselves into the government of this small and unstable country since last spring's so-called Tulip Revolution, which overthrew a corrupt government and was first regarded as a sign of hope. Since then, three members of Parliament have been killed.
If Mr. Baisalov has his way, the latest attack will help unify opposition to President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, whom Mr. Baisalov helped bring to power but now criticizes. "It only strengthened us in the belief that the forces we are dealing with think they can intimidate us into living in a country ruled by mafia," he said of the attack.

Mr. Baisalov greeted a steady stream of visitors from his hospital bed, a wide gauze bandage around his head the only visible sign of his injury. His doctors initially said that he had been shot. Further analysis indicated that he had been hit by a blunt weapon, Mr. Baisalov said. The difference, he said, is not important. "Let's not talk about whether it was a bullet or an iron bar," he said. "Let's not talk about my security. Let's talk about public security. How can somebody attack me in broad daylight, in front of the general prosecutor's office, and then walk away?"

Mr. Baisalov, 28, has become a prominent public figure since he took an active role a year ago in the uprising that overthrew President Askar Akayev. He has become a critic of the new government and has been most vocal in his demands for President Bakiyev to demonstrate his commitment to fight organized crime. Most recently, Mr. Baisalov lobbied to block the candidacy of a reputed crime boss, Rysbek Akmatbayev, in a special parliamentary election last Sunday. After a court ruling validated his candidacy, Mr. Akmatbayev won, with an official 79 percent of the vote. Mr. Baisalov called for annulment of the victory on the basis of a murder investigation involving Mr. Akmatbayev, who is also suspected of two other killings.

On Tuesday, the country's director of elections reported that Mr. Akmatbayev had threatened his life after he refused to register his election victory. Mr. Akmatbayev denied the threat through his lawyer.

Mr. Kulov, the prime minister, visited Mr. Baisalov Wednesday night, and said there was "no doubt of the political undertones of this assassination attempt," according to The Associated Press. The president, however, blamed only vague "third forces" trying to destabilize the country for the attack. Mr. Baisalov blamed the country's leadership, saying it had allowed public security to deteriorate. "I cannot blame criminals for criminality," he said, switching channels to another news program as he spoke. "It is the authorities who allowed these criminals to feel they could attack me in broad daylight and get away with it."Спасибо тебе, Итан, за поддержку!

P.S: А редакторам NYT конечно пофиг как меня называть - назвали лидером оппозиции, так уж и быть.