Kyrgyz police use tear gas against protesters in Talas.

6/4 Tass 305

BISHKEK, April 6 (Itar-Tass) - Police used tear gas against protesters
who seized the building of the regional administration in the town of
Talas earlier on Tuesday, and appointed "a people's governor," sources in
Talas told Itar-Tass.
Police have succeeded in dispersing the protesters, but they are
gathering again. Nobody has committed himself to predicting how events in
Talas might develop. Some reports said the authorities had dispatched
additional special task force units to the town.
"We fear the authorities might use force against their own people, so
we're urging the international community not to allow this development of
events," leader of the Opposition party "Ata-Meken" (Fatherland) Omurbek
Tekebayev told reporters on Tuesday.
"The Talas protesters are supporting the Opposition's demands,"
Tekebayev added.
At the kurultai (assembly), the Opposition brought forward several
demands, such as a revision of the results of the privatization of
strategic facilities, a revision of the Constitution and resignation of a
number of high-placed officials.
The Opposition threatened to hold assemblies in a number of regions on
April 7 with the view of "returning power to the people."
In Talas, the unrest was provoked by the detention of Ata-Meken
activist Bolotbek Shernizyazov.
Some 1,000 citizens flocked to the building of regional police to
demand his release. Police said they had briefly detained Sherniyazov to
warn him about the inadmissibility of unsanctioned protests.
The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry flatly denied the reports alleging the
seizure of government bodies by protesters in Talas.
-0-myz/gor


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