A court in Bishkek sentenced the former head of the State Committee for National Security, the former head of parliament, and several other officials to prison. The case relates to allegations of an attempt to change the constitutional order by force and seize power. Kamchybek Tashiev, the former head of the State Committee for National Security, was among the main accused in the case. In February of this year, 75 people, including some senior officials of the government and parliament, called for early presidential elections in an open letter. The government described this action as an attempt to change the system by force and to stage a coup, and after dismissing some officials, put them on trial. Tashiev, along with Kormanqoul Zolushf, the former prosecutor general, and Nurlanbek Turgonbek Uulu, the former head of parliament, were sentenced to four years in suspended imprisonment and the confiscation of property. Five other defendants were also sentenced to three years in suspended imprisonment each.