In his address on 17 March in Aksy, President Bakiev called for deterring the efforts of some politicians to “politicize” the Aksy events. But to the question of seemingly dissatisfied people as to why the involved officials are still not punished, the president once again mentioned that he is not a “czar” to overcome the constitutional framework. Nevertheless, in order to placate the strong demand of the grassroots, the president had to sack the Prosecutor General, Kambaraly Kongantiev, on 19 March, who was believed to have failed to expose the officials that gave the orders to shoot at civilians. Also, as the opposition says, the former Prosecutor General was preoccupied with staging political battles and prosecuting unfavorable people, rather than dealing with criminals and corruption.

Currently, no one has been found guilty and charged with the murder of civilians in Aksy. The investigation was closed on 18 December 2006 with little public acknowledgement. The accused were freed through various means, such as the absence of corpus delicti, illegal proceedings, and amnesties. These were mostly low-level state officials and law-enforcement officers, which directly dealt with the matter.

However, discontent grew, looming to be another ground for criticism for the president. This owed partly to the petition of parliamentarian Azimbek Beknazarov, whose politically motivated imprisonment in 2002 spurred public unrest in Aksy. The special agency dealing with the most important criminal cases has reopened the matter for additional investigation. President Bakiev said he would “personally” oversee the investigation.

Meanwhile, on 16 March the United Front of Felix Kulov initiated an evening-requiem for commemoration of Aksy events in Bishkek. Even though prominent opposition members like Omurbek Tekebaev, Temir Sariev, Kabay Karabekov, Kulov, Rosa Otunbaeva, Omurbek Suvanaliev, Asiya Sasykbaeva and others took part in the gathering, it was mostly ordinary people that spoke to the public, something that was planned by the organizers in order to avoid a political slant. In the view of relatives of the murdered civilians, the “Aksy matter” cannot be completed unless high-level state officials that gave orders to brutally suppress the civilians face justice. Also, many come to believe that it will remain highly politicized if it remains unsolved and without legal evaluation.

On 16 March the former president, Askar Akaev, conveyed his letter on the 24.kg news site. He pointed out that no one virtually saw the whole picture of events and he himself did not have sufficient information about the “brewing critical confrontation.” Admitting his guilt as a president, however, he suggests watching the video of a may 2002 Security Council meeting to find the “truth.” He underlined Bakiev’s “unsightly behavior” and his attempt to escape the direct responsibility for the incident. As Prime Minister, Bakiev chaired the Security Council. Shortly thereafter, he resigned from the government and joined the opposition.

However, the ousted president also attemped to provide an explanation: the “democratic deficit” and the limited understanding of democratic norms by law-enforcement officers. He argues that force was seen as the supreme manifestation of power and its use was accepted by law. Further, he points to the “provocative actions of extremist elements,” which intentionally led to excesses and bloodshed.

Parliamentarian Azimbek Beknazarov, representative of Aksy rayon, remaining a leading and ardent critic, said that he does not believe the statements by President Bakiev that the guilty officials will be punished. The president failed to set deadlines for the investigation and evaded the answer with ambiguous words, he reasoned. He was dismissed as Prosecutor General, he believes, because the case of Aksy “tragedy” was almost ready for consideration by the court, with 70 percent of work being completed. However, his silence over this already accomplished work generates criticism on him.

Referred to both by the opposition and the government as a “national tragedy,” the Aksy events still remain politically and legally unevaluated, despite President Bakiev’s initial promise to finalize the investigate within several months. Many see political agendas as the main obstacle to the investigation. For example, on live TV, Amanbek Karypkulov, who was the chairman of the presidential administration during the Aksy events, simply requested facts of his involvement, in the face of heavy accusation and discontent, and said that he will turn to courts to dispute “ungrounded” accusations.

In general, it seems this “sore spot” cannot be healed easily as the cadres, remained from the previous regime, find themselves responsible for it at some point and their influence on the president makes the issue more problematic. It seems that President Bakiev will not muster enough political will to solve the issue, since it may entail a further loss of support and endanger his position in power. And the dismissal of the Prosecutor General is certain to prolong the case to some point in the future.