"I have one request to the court — keep me in custody, they have already sentenced me to 11 years in prison, but there is no testimony against me. Time will prove everything. I know that the truth will win anyway. Kanat Sagynbaev and Farid Niyazov are in prison because they did not betray me. I will endure everything... Those, who are currently under custody, should be released," Atambayev said in the court, as quoted by Joldubaeva.
Atambayev denies all accusations against him and has said they are politically motivated.
In July, Atambayev was sentenced to 11 years in prison on corruption charges. On 6 October, protesters in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, freed Atambayev from custody in the pretrial detention center.
Four days later, the ex-president was again detained under a probe into the organization of mass rallies in the capital of Bishkek. On Wednesday, the Bishkek court initiated a closed-door trial on the riots in the northern Kyrgyz village of Koy-Tash. The trial was attended by Atambayev, Joldubaeva, Sagynbaev, Niyazov and other former officials.
