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Twenty-four rioters injured in clashes with police in Kyrgyzstan

En.rian.ru

07/04/2010

Twenty-four people have been injured in clashes with police in the riot-hit Kyrgyz city of Talas, the local Kabar news agency has said.

Protesters, who accuse the country’s government of tightening the grip on power while failing to bring stability and economic growth, seized on Tuesday the Talas government building. Police dispersed the protesters with tear gas and reported that the situation had been taken under control.

The Kabar news agency said those injured were taken to surgery and trauma units of a local hospital. One of them is reportedly in a heavy condition.

Law enforcement agents have arrested several opposition leaders, including the leader of the opposition Ata-Meken party, Omurbek Tekebayev, the party’s vice-chairman, Bolot Sherniyazov, as well as all leaders of the opposition United People’s Movement.

Kyrgyz Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongantiyev said earlier on Tuesday that after the riots, all of the activities by the United People’s Movement are considered unlawful and any attempts to continue protests on Wednesday would be stopped. He said all the rioters would be brought to trial.

Almazbek Atambayev, the former prime minister and current leader of the Social Democratic Party, was detained Tuesday evening in his home. A journalist and a cameraman of the local television company StanTV, who were interviewing the politician when police arrived, were also detained. They were later freed, but the camera was seized.

Kyrgyzstan, where Russia and the United States both have military bases, has been in a state of constant instability since current President Kurmanbek Bakiyev came to power after the so-called tulip revolution, toppling his long-serving predecessor Askar Akayev in 2005.

Bakiyev’s party won most seats in parliament in the early December 2007 election after two years of political upheaval.

BISHKEK, April 7 (RIA Novosti)

Kyrgyz protesters storm regional government office

bbc.co.uk

Tuesday, 6 April 2010

Police in north-western Kyrgyzstan have used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse hundreds of people protesting against soaring energy prices.

About 1,000 protesters stormed a regional government office in the city of Talas and another 500 surrounded the local police headquarters.

PM Daniyar Usenov denied opposition claims that the governor of Talas had been taken hostage by protesters.

The unrest was sparked by the arrest of another opposition leader.

The official, who belongs to the main opposition party, Ata-Meken, was later released, reports said.

More rallies are planned for Wednesday, including one in the capital Bishkek.

Surrounded

In Tuesday’s unrest, the protesters reportedly set fire to a portrait of Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Several people were injured when police fired rubber bullets in response.

The protesters had announced their own replacement to the local governor, Bolotbek Beishenbekov.

They had surrounded him outside the building, but he was freed by security forces, reports said.

The interior ministry said a « drunken mob » had briefly entered the Talas government office, but that police were restoring security.

Prime Minister Usenov has vowed to crack down on the demonstrators.

« I urge the organisers of these actions to desist from what they are doing. For those that do not listen, measures will be severe, » Mr Usenov said.

The unrest comes amid rising tensions between the opposition and the government.

In recent weeks, the authorities have clamped down on independent media, and several internet news sources are still blocked in the country, the BBC’s Central Asia correspondent Rayhan Demytrie reports.

There has also been rising discontent with the role of President Bakiyev’s son who was recently appointed as the head of an important government agency.

Five years ago, mass protests in Kyrgyzstan brought Mr Bakiyev to power.

He promised to fight corruption and promote democracy, but his critics say the country has become increasingly authoritarian under his rule, our correspondent says.

Kyrgyz Police Disperse Protesters, Storm Occupied Government Building

rferl.org

06.04.2010

TALAS, Kyrgyzstan (RFE/RL) — In the northwestern Kyrgyz city of Talas, riot police have used tear gas to storm a government building seized by protesters and to disperse a crowd of around 3,000 demonstrators.

Some 200 police have reportedly entered the government building, where protesters had said they took the local governor hostage.

The extent of the incident is unclear, after a day of claims and counterclaims by opposition activists and government officials.

They included the assertion by opposition representatives — denied by the country’s prime minister — that the regional governor had been taken hostage.

Protesters at one point also attempted to enter the Talas police station, but were chased back when police reportedly fired tear gas and smoke bombs.

Bishkek officials say the situation in the city is under control.

The incident comes amid rising tensions between the opposition and the government of President Kurmanbek Bakiev, which the opposition accuses of cracking down on independent media and fostering corruption.

Opposition parties have organized several protests across the country in recent weeks and are planning fresh protests for April 7.

Spontaneous Gathering

The day’s events began with the reported detention of opposition leader Bolot Sherniazov, who had gone to the provincial administration building to obtain official permission for a rally planned for April 7.

Some reports said Sherniazov was detained briefly then released, though officials denied he was ever held.

Whatever the case, the reports of Sherniazov’s detention brought people to both the city’s administration building and police station.

With several thousand estimated to have gathered at the government office, some then led an attempt to take over the administration building.

RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service reports that police did nothing to stop the group entering and then occupying the building.

The crowd announced they had selected their own replacements as interim governor and deputy governor. « We have elected our leader, » protester Janat Karabotoev told RFE/RL’s Kyrgyz Service.

« We will hold the first session [of the people’s] congress tomorrow, » she added. « Our main demand is to get rid of the family-run system of governance. We are not afraid of anything. Nobody was frightened. The people’s mood is just perfect. About 3,000 people are gathered there. »

Governor Hostage?

The reports of the building’s seizure brought the first official denial, with the Interior Ministry saying the building had not been occupied, but that a group of several dozen people, « including many in a state of intoxication, » had entered and later left.

However, events quickly proved many protesters had gained entry and were staying inside the building — as Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov later acknowledged.

At an evening press conference convened to address the situation in Talas, Usenov said the situation was « stable » and denied a claim by opposition representatives — Sherniazov and Koisun Kurmanalieva — that Governor Beishen Bolotbekov was being held hostage inside the administration building.

But Usenov acknowledged there were still people around the administration building and the police station there, and said 100 police reinforcements were being sent to the city.

Usenov also warned that rallies planned for April 7 were illegal and warned people to stay away from them.

Rally Illegal

Prosecutor-General Nurlan Tursunkulov, speaking at the same press conference, said a criminal case had already been launched against protesters responsible for the « mass disorder » in Talas. He said it was aimed at what he called a violent seizure of power and change of the constitutional order.

Asanbek Baytikov, the deputy chairman of the parliament’s Committee for Defense and Rule of Law, said the protesters went too far and would answer to the law.

« If there are any violations of the law, then those involved in it will be brought to justice. It is unacceptable to do illegal things, » Baytikov said, adding that the governor must be appointed, not elected.

As night fell in Talas, Bolotbekov was reportedly still in the administration building. Some reports said he was being held hostage, others merely that he was on the fourth floor of the building and was unwilling to try to make his way through the protesters on the first three floors.

Dissatisfaction with Bakiev and his government has been growing for months.

Bakiev came to power after the People’s, or « Tulip » Revolution in March 2005 that ousted longtime President Askar Akaev, who many felt was turning the Kyrgyz government into a family business.

Opposition groups today are making the same claim about Bakiev, who has appointed his brothers to state positions and his 32-year-old son Maksim to head the state agency for economic development.

Police disperse protesters in Kyrgyzstan

By LEILA SARALAYEVA (AP) – 15 minutes ago

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Baton-wielding police clubbed their way through crowds of protesters in a provincial town in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday, firing tear gas and flash grenades to disperse an anti-government demonstration in the impoverished former Soviet nation.

The clash came after demonstrators angry over rising heat and power prices seized a government building, took a governor hostage and occupied a central square in a town west of the capital, Bishkek. Access to Internet was later cut off in the capital.

Local residents of Talas town told The Associated Press by telephone that police took over the square in a matter of minutes, initially overwhelming around 2,500 protesters.

But many of the demonstrators returned to the square to hurl stones and Molotov cocktails at police, setting fire to police cars and bringing chaos to the town of about 30,000.

During a visit to the country on Saturday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon repeatedly criticized Kyrgyzstan for human rights problems, a strong rebuke to the country once regarded as former Soviet Central Asia’s « island of democracy. »

Nationwide rallies are planned on Wednesday, and analysts said the unrest could spread.

The government warned of « severe » repercussions, and the main opposition party said U.S. and Russian diplomats should urged the government to refrain from violence.

In Talas, it was unclear if there were injuries or arrests, and the fate of the governor, Bolotbek Beishenbekov, who locals say had been locked in a room in a government office by protesters who had seized the building, was not known.

Earlier, more than 1,000 locals stormed the building, opposition politicians and local activists said. Large crowds assembled at other spots around the town, witnesses said. The protesters encircled Beishenbekov who was outside the building, taking him hostage, according to an opposition activist.

« People spontaneously captured him and locked him in one of the offices » in the government building, opposition activist Bolot Sherniyazov told AP on the phone.

Witnesses said some 500 people had gathered at the local police station in Talas throwing Molotov cocktails at President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s portraits. Protesters said security forces used tear gas and fired gunshots into air to disperse the crowd.

A correspondent for the local affiliate of U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Talas said one person was shot with a rubber bullet fired from inside the police precinct.

Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov said about 100 policemen had been dispatched to Talas, which is a six-hour drive west of the capital, Bishkek, as backup.

« I urge the organizers of these actions to desist from what they are doing. For those that do not listen, measures will be severe, » Usenov said. He said there would be no curfew.

Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous country of 5 million people, hosts a U.S. air base that supports military operations in neighboring Afghanistan and serves as an important transit point for coalition troops and supplies.

Since coming to power on a wave of street protests in 2005, Bakiyev has ensured a measure of stability, but many observers say he has done so at the expense of democratic standards.

Over the past two years, Kyrgyz authorities have clamped down on free media, and opposition activists say they have routinely been subjected to physical intimidation and targeted by politically motivated criminal investigations.

Anti-government forces have been in disarray until recently, but widespread anger over soaring utility bills has galvanized the fractious opposition.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 6 avril 2010.

Publié dans émeutes, бунт, riots