A large cell of the extremist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir has been busted in Jalal-Abad. The members of the organization distributed leaflets and spoke out against the new bill on freedom of religion and religious associations in Kyrgyzstan.

During the special operation, officers of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan (GNKB) detained 22 people. Among them were the head of the cell, five mentors and eight teachers who controlled groups of several people.

According to the security service, for several years these people had been engaged in the propaganda of extremist ideology and recruitment of new members. They used an underground printing house and created fake accounts on the Internet to distribute prohibited materials.

GNKB employees also seized a large amount of extremist literature, as well as computers and copying equipment. All detainees were placed in the GNKB pre-trial detention center.