Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Atambayev and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Three members of Kyrgyzstan’s opposition were jailed for between 12 and 20 years Monday over an alleged coup plot captured on a disputed audio recording aired on the Internet.

The sentences are likely to add to fears of a crackdown ahead of November elections, following anti-government protests.

A Bishkek court jailed activist Ernest Karybekov for 20 years, and former MP Kubanychbek Kadyrov and ex-regional governor Bektur Asanov for 12 years each for their roles in the purported plot.

A fourth defendant, ex-foreign minister Dastan Sarygulov, was given a suspended four-year sentence at the closed-doors hearing.

The four men were arrested last year shortly after the recording appeared to show Asanov and Kadyrov plotting to seize power in the fragile republic of six million.

The opposition figures claimed the recording was heavily edited.

While ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan is the most democratic country in a region dominated by long-ruling strongmen, it has also been the most politically volatile in recent times.

Protests have grown in frequency as the country prepares for November’s presidential elections in which current leader Almazbek Atambayev is constitutionally barred from standing.

In February and March, security services arrested two opposition leaders who had announced plans to run for office. The state prosecutor has also launched lawsuits against media outlets.

Kyrgyzstan experienced two revolutions that unseated presidents in 2005 and 2010, followed by ethnic violence that left more than 400 dead.

Related articles across the web

• Global online game offers clues about why we get languages so very wrong
• Supreme Court agrees to install CCTV cameras in courtrooms, but without audio recording
• April Fool's Prank: Russian Foreign Ministry Mocks Election Interference Allegations
• How to take and edit video and photos in the Clips app
• BREAKING: The Alabama Governor Just Resigned - Booked in Montgomery County Jail Shortly Thereafter
• I'm a schmuck, 'distracted' Harrison Ford told tower after plane blunder
• How to connect non-USB professional studio microphones to your PC
• Report: Taylor Swift Creating A Music, Merch And Fan Club Super-App
• The View from Hanoi: the Future of US-Vietnam Relations
• ISIS spokesman says the US is 'being run by an idiot' in first statement on Trump