Tag Archives: protest

Kyrgyz Supreme court backs Tekebaev detention

MARCH 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court upheld the detention of opposition leader Omurbek Tekebaev who was arrested when he tried to enter the country in February. The authorities have accused Mr Tekebaev, who is a leader in the Ata Meken party, of bribe-taking and fraud. His detention sparked off anti-government street demonstrations in Bishkek and in the south of the country. Also in Kyrgyzstan, the security services confirmed that it had charged another senior member of the Ata Meken party, acting chairman Almambet Shykmamatov, with fraud while he was an auditor at the State Accounting Chamber in 2011.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Riot police clash with protesters in Kyrgyz capital

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BISHKEK, MARCH 25 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Roughly 500 people protested outside the security services in Bishkek against the arrest of a former MP, the latest and most violent in a series of demonstrations that have punctured the relative peace of the Kyrgyz capital this year.

Sadyr Japarov, a former MP, was arrested at a border checkpoint when he tried to return to Kyrgyzstan after fleeing the country in 2013.

Protesters scrapped and fought with police, in what has been described as the most violent anti- government clashes this year, after the deadline for Mr Japarov’s release from questioning by the security serv- ices came and went without him emerging. Bishkek is increasingly tense with presidential elections scheduled for November expected to be a tightly fought affair.

Police armed with riot gear had to move in to break up the demonstrations. Police said that they detained 68 people.

There have been several protests already this year in Kyrgyzstan focused on allegations made against the main opposition party Ata Meken, but opinion among experts and locals about this unexpected protest were divided. Some said the arrest, the protest, and quickly-ar- ranged press conference given by the ministry of interior looked suspicious.

“The brave arrival of Sadyr Japarov with the simultaneous organisation of an assertive protest, which would certainly fail, is somewhat strange,” wrote Nurbek Toktakunov, a well- known civil activist and human rights advocate in Bishkek, on Facebook.

A Bishkek lawyer said that the organisational skills shown by the ministry of interior in staging a press conference immediately after the protest were unprecedented.

“The ministry of interior rarely gives press conferences about demonstrations. This is surprising,” he said, asking to remain anonymous.

Other analysts said that the protest may have been organised by the security services to discredit the opposition. Mr Japarov’s return was unexpected as it is unclear what he was returning for, although some said he wanted to drum up support for standing in the presidential election. He had been an MP with the now marginalised Ata Zhurt party, and had largely been forgotten during his self-imposed exile.

The state authorities had accused him in 2012 of trying to overthrow the government. He denied the charges and fled the country.

Some locals praised the police action, though.

“Unregistered protests lead to anarchy. They began to throw stones, plastic bottles and broke through the cordon,” said Daniyar, 27, a resident of Bishkek. “It was a good job our policemen took preventive measures, otherwise it would be chaos.”

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(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Hundreds more protest in Kyrgyz capital

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MARCH 18/19 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in the Kyrgyz capital broke up a series of anti-government protests complaining about what they said was pressure on free speech. Media reported that hundreds of people turned out for the demonstrations after the government said that it was going to sue two media companies for slandering Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev. There have been a number of anti-government protests in Bishkek since the arrest last month of senior members of the opposition Ata Meken party, including leader and presidential candidate Omurbek Tekebayev.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)

Parking ticket sparks riot in Georgian city

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TBILISI, MARCH 11/12 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police and rioters clashed in Batumi, Georgia’s second city, allegedly after an argument over a parking ticket escalated into violence.

Rioters burned cars and fought police who resorted to firing tear gas into the protesters in what observers have said was the worst violence for years in Georgia. Local media said that 85 people were detained after the violence.

For the ruling Georgian Dream coalition, the violence is a potential problem as it may show that people are become increasingly tired with the status quo and also of deal with an economic downturn that has started to impact living standards. A Georgian observer said that the main riot was the culmination of a build-up of a bad feeling towards a new police chief in Batumi who was trying to impose heavier fines for small misdemeanours such as littering the street.

There had been two days of protests before the riot.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)

Protests grow in Armenian capital after ‘Bread Provider’ dies

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YEREVAN, MARCH 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Thousands of demonstrators have marched for four consecutive days through the Armenian capital demanding answers from the government about the death of 49- year old Artur Sargsyan, one of the men arrested and imprisoned last year for capturing a police station.

His death and the subsequent demonstrations have galvanized support for opposition groups only a fortnight before a parliamentary election, the first to be held under a new constitution that shifts power away from the presidential office.

The mainly young protesters have marched arm-in-arm through Yerevan shouting for the government to resign and holding aloft pictures of Sargsyan, known by his nicknamed as ‘The Bread Provider’.

During the two-week-long capture of the police station in July by a group of opposition gunmen, Sargsyan had broken through a police cordon to give them food. He was arrested when they surrendered, and died on March 16 in a hospital 10 days after ending a 25-day hunger strike.

For President Sargsyan and his Republican Party the death and protests, estimated at being 1,000-strong every night, have come at precisely the wrong time. They don’t want voters to see TV footage of police forcibly pulling young protesters off the roads and into their waiting vans.

Richard Giragosian, director of Regional Studies Center based in Yerevan, said that protests have been the defining image of Armenia over the last couple of years and that these latest demonstrations reminds voters of this.

In 2015 there were weeks of protests and clashes with police over a proposed electricity price increase and in 2016 there were more clashes between police and supporters of the gunmen who had captured the police station.

“Although the aftermath of his death may be fairly temporary, and limited to a spontaneous outburst of anger, nevertheless, public anger and deep discontent have also defined this country’s coming election,” said Mr Giragosian said.

The only public opinion poll so far, published on March 6 by Gallup, showed that the party led by millionaire Gagik Tsarukyan, who is broadly sympathetic to the current government, would receive 26.4% of the votes compared to 22.8% for the Republican party.

The poll also showed the other seven political parties and blocs, considered the real opposition forces, failing to pass the threshold to win seats.

The demonstrations may shift that, though, Mr Giragosian said “The government’s arrogance has already undermined both their position and popularity,” he said.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)

Protests weaken in Kyrgyzstan

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MARCH 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Protests continued in the southern town of Bazar-Korgon against the imprisonment of Omur Tekebayev, head of the Ata-Meken party, for corruption. Media reported that around 50 people holding placards marched through the town. Protests that broke out immediately after Tekebayev’s arrest on Feb. 28 in Bishkek, though, have dissipated. Bazar-Korgon is Mr Tekebayev’s hometown.

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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)

Kyrgyz protesters gather after arrest of opposition leader

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BISHKEK, FEB 27/28 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Hundreds of people in Kyrgyzstan protested against the arrest of opposition leader Omurbek Tekebayev, sparking worries of pro-tracted anti-government street demonstrations.

By the end of the week, the crowds had dissipated from a peak of 300 in Bishkek and 200 in Bazar Korgon, the town in southern region of Jalal-abad where Mr Tekebayev was born.

Even so, the sight of angry protesters, mainly young men, marching through the streets of Bishkek to the White House, the presidential office, noisily airing their grievances brought back memories of 2005 and 2010 when violent revolutions over- threw two governments.

Mr Tekebayev has been charged with corruption linked to the telecoms company Megacom in 2010. His supporters have said that the charges are politically motivated, designed to scupper any chances that Mr Tekebayev has of winning a presidential election set for November.

Addressing the crowd, Rosa Otunbayeva, a former Kyrgyz president and one of Mr Tekebayev’s most high-profile supporters, described his arrest as political persecution.

Kyrgyzstan’s society is increasingly polarised and November’s election is likely to be a tense affair. President Almazbek Atambayev is stepping down after one term in power, as stipulated by the constitution. He has not yet named a preferred successor.

Murat Borombai, a resident of Bishkek, said he went to the demonstration to support the opposition and not Mr Tekebayev in particular.

“These people are opposed to the state authorities who have started to repeat the way of authoritarianism, violations of civil rights the move to lawlessness and arbitrariness,” he said.

The authorities have denied that there was any political motivation behind the arrest of Mr Tekebayev or any of his colleagues.

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(News report from Issue No. 319, published on March 3 2017)

Thousands protest in Georgian capital to support Rustavi-2 TV channel

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TBILISI, FEB. 19 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — An estimated 10,000 people protested in central Tbilisi against what they said was the attempted silencing of TV channel Rustavi-2’s anti-government rhetoric.

The demonstration was one of the biggest for several years in the Georgian capital and was a reminder that street-level politics are still a potent force in Georgia.

Rustavi-2, one of Georgia’s most popular TV channels and a supporter of the opposition UNM party, suspended broadcasts for two days before the demonstration.

Zaal Udumashvili, deputy director of Rustavi-2 and anchor of its main news program, told the demonstrators that the fight to save it was a fight to save democracy itself.

“Rustavi-2 is back on the air from now on, which means that the channel will never go off again,” he was quoted by media as saying.

“If Rustavi-2 falls, this will not be the fall of only one television. This will mean that there will be no space left for covering your problems, for bringing your problems to the entire country.”

Rustavi-2 is the focus of an ownership struggle currently playing out in the Supreme Court. The protesters said that the Georgian Dream government was trying to seize the channel from Giorgi and Levan Karamanishvili, associates of former president Mikheil Saakashvili, through businessman Kibar Khalvashi. Mr Khalvashi is a former co-owner of Rustavi-2 who says his stake in the TV channel was taken from him illegally.

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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)

Kyrgyz police arrests crowds protesting

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FEB. 24 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Kyrgyzstan detained the prominent opposition figure Almanbet Shykmamatov, allegedly questioning him for nine hours over corruption allegations. Dozens of people protested outside the White House, the presidential office. Mr Shykmamatov is a member of the Ata Meken political party, which draws it support mainly from the south.

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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)f

UNM protesters march in Georgian capital

FEB. 14 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Georgia detained 13 people during a rally organised by the United National Movement party (UNM), the party of the exiled former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili. The demonstration, outside the city hall, was attended by 100 people and had been called to voice support for the Rustavi-2 TV station which they accuse the government of trying to control.

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(News report from Issue No. 317, published on Feb.17 2017)