BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- A member of a European team observing elections in Kyrgyzstan was arrested for what she believes was because of a Chechen investigation, a rights group said.
Kyrgyz voters head to the polls this weekend to pick their next president. The election is the first since an April 2010 coup led former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee to Belarus. Following the coup, at least 470 people were killed in ethnic conflicts near Osh and Jalal Abad.
Yakiko Kikuchi, a Japanese citizen working with the Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe, said she believes Kyrgyz authorities arrested her because she is on a blacklist issued by the regional Commonwealth of Independent States.
An unidentified activist told the Interfax news agency she believes "she could have been included in the CIS blacklists restricting certain people's entry into some former Soviet republics because she once investigated the 'Chechen problem'."
Protests have occurred on a regular basis since the 2010 uprising. Rights groups monitoring the situation in Kyrgyzstan note the country has a long way to go to repair ethnic wounds.
There are 24 candidates competing in the Sunday election. Kyrgyz President Roza Otunbayeva is ineligible for a second term. Her term expires Dec. 31.
