Arrest of participants in the demonstration in Bishkek. Photo from Kaktus.media
Kyrgyz police have dispersed a large demonstration in favour of jailed ex-parliamentary deputy Sadyr Japarov in central Bishkek. The events in Bishkek’s Ala-Too Square were streamed live by news sites Kloop, KaktusMedia, and Radio Liberty’s Kyrgyz website Azattyk.
Protestors handed over a list of their demands to representatives of the country’s president Sooronbay Jeenbekov. It was announced that the demands would be responded to within three days, and demonstrators were asked to go home. The protestors, however, were not satisfied with this and insisted that their main demand – the release from prison of ex-parliamentary deputy Sadyr Japarov – be complied with immediately. They declared that they would not disperse as long as Japarov remained behind bars.
At some point during the demonstrations, the crowd moved to outside of the White House (the country’s presidential building), adjacent to the square, and blocked the entrance. Employees were unable to leave the building at the end of the working day.
At 18:25 local time (one and a half hours after the scheduled end of the demonstration), the police began to forcibly disperse the demonstrators using tear gas, water cannons, police dogs and smoke bombs. Some protestors responded by throwing stones. By 18:30, the demonstrators had been forced from the square. They headed south along Orozbekov Street, continuing to throw stones at the police. The nearby shopping centres GUM and Dordoy Plaza closed their doors. Smaller shops and cafés too began to close.
Kloop journalist Rustan Khalimov reported being caught up in the tear gas fired by police. He said that he had been forced to lie on the ground coughing. KaktusMedia reported seeing many passers-by on the street clearly suffering from the effects of tear gas. An ambulance was called to the scene, though it is not yet known for what reason. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Almaz Orozaliyev was spotted on Orozbekov Street wearing a gas mask. Journalists also reported seeing limping police officers.
It was originally announced that protestors would demonstrate for the release of Sadyr Japarov, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking a government official hostage at a demonstration in 2013. Ahead of the demonstration, however, Japarov made an announcement though his lawyer, asking people not to attend the event. He stated that he feared provocations. At the demonstration itself, Japarov’s relatives attempted to calm the crowd.
Ultimately, the protestors added a number of other demands to their list: the prevention of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Kyrgyzstan, an investigation into the 2010 deaths of two students at the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the settlement of external debts to China, and the resolution of border disputes with Tajikistan. 7,740 people signed the list of demands. The protestors had wanted to give the list to President Jeenbekov personally, but the latter refused to meet them.
