.Bishkek militia reports calm Tuesday night.

21/4 Tass 142

BISHKEK, April 21 (Itar-Tass) - Representatives of the Bishkek militia
headquarters said the Tuesday night was calm in the republic capital, and
that no attempts were made to unsettle the situation.
"Several thousand militia helped law-enforcement bodies to keep law
and order at night," a headquarters representative told Itar-Tass.
On Wednesday, militia and vigilante drove past the illegally seized
land plots in Bishkek, urging the violators to respect the law.
The action was peaceful, but some radical militia members are
insisting on giving a tough response to unauthorized acquisitions, and
urged law-enforcement bodies to settle the problem.
Meanwhile, deputy chairman of the republic's provisional government
Omurbek Tekebayev promised guarantees of the freedom of speech and
development of independent mass media.
"It is one of the principles that must be realized on the way toward a
prosperous democratic future of Kyrgyzstan," Tekebayev said in a statement
on Wednesday.
"Independent mass media outlets should become an important element of
Kyrgyzstan's new political system. The mass media will turn into a real
"fourth" power, which will make the state to reckon with the public
opinion, and take into account the interests and needs of various groups
of the population," he said.
He noted that the provisions government regarded it as an important
move to restructure the national television and broadcasting corporation
to public television.
"Its establishment will become one of the items of our grandiose
project to revive democracy in Kyrgyzstan," Tekebayev said.
At present, the provisional government is considering a decree to
introduce a public control mechanism at the national television and radio
broadcasting corporation, in the form of an observer council of the
corporation.
"The members of the provisional government are at one in their vision
of freedom in the field of the mass media, as an important token of stable
democratic development of Kyrgyzstan.
"The decree introducing an observer council at the national television
and radio broadcasting corporation should be the evidence of the readiness
for intensive democratic changes. Its adoption will pave the way to public
television in the republic," Tekebayev said.
On Tuesday, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton stated at the
session of the European parliament in Strasbourg that the EU was ready to
provide to Kyrgyzstan the necessary political, financial and technical
assistance if the leadership of the country confirmed its commitment to
democratic values.
-0-myz/gor


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