Eccentric Kyrgyz opposition politician Arstanbek Abdyldaev has died while in a pretrial detention facility.
Abdyldaev’s lawyer announced the news on January 5, after which prison authorities said Abdyldaev was found hanged in a jail cell. The State Penitentiary Service later said that Arstanbek Abdyldaev committed suicide.
Abdyldaev was detained on December 15 on suspicion of “inciting religious hatred.” Authorities said he was diagnosed last week with a “personality disorder, heart disease, and high blood pressure.”
Abdyldaev’s lawyer called for a probe into his death. Abdyldaev, who ran for president several times, was known for making bizarre comments, such as declaring himself a savior of the nation and predicting in 2011 that there would be no winter that year, RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reported.
