The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan is considering the legality of depriving ex-President Almazbek Atambayev of immunity, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Wednesday.

The trial is open. The trial room is attended by journalists and supporters of the ex-head of state.

Immediately after the start of the trial, lawyer Nurbek Toktakunov challenged the presiding judge Kalybek Duysheev. According to the defender, Duysheev is connected with the brother of the current head of state, Asylbek Jeenbekov. The court retired to the deliberation room to examine the defense counsel's request.

On August 7-8, special services of Kyrgyzstan carried out an operation to detain Atambayev in his residence in the village of Koi-Tash, 20 kilometers from the capital. 

The leader of the largest parliamentary party of Social Democrats of Kyrgyzstan, Atambayev, transferred power to his successor and closest ally Sooronbai Jeenbekov in 2017 as a result of the presidential election. However, shortly afterwards criminal proceedings were instituted against members of the ex-president’s team. Atambayev was stripped of his ex-president status and charged with serious and especially serious crimes. The former head of state has repeatedly stated that all charges against him and the address of his associates are political in nature.