EurasiaNet Civil Society - Kyrgyzstan: President Moves Quickly to Reassert His Authority

CIVIL SOCIETY

KYRGYZSTAN: PRESIDENT MOVES QUICKLY TO REASSERT HIS AUTHORITY
Daniel Sershen 4/20/07

Opposition leader Feliks Kulov promised that April 19 would be a decisive day in his campaign to bring early presidential elections and constitutional reform to Kyrgyzstan via street protest. The day indeed proved pivotal, but not in the way that Kulov had anticipated. Instead of ending in President Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s demise, the day’s events culminated with the incumbent chief executive in position to reassert control over the Kyrgyzstan’s political system.

After unruly anti-government protesters began hurling stones and other projectiles outside the presidential compound on April 19, security forces moved quickly to disperse the demonstrators and dismantle the opposition’s headquarters on Ala-Too Square. [For background see the Eurasia insight archive]. By daybreak on April 20, the square had been cleansed of nearly all signs of protest, with the exception of a few shop owners repairing shattered windows.

The rioting on April 19 "untied the hands" of Bakiyev, political commentator Orozbek Moldaliyev wrote in an analysis published by the 24.kg.news agency. "He [Bakiyev] can say, ’I put up with [protests] for a long time, but now retaliatory measures must be taken.’"

"That the protest took on a violent nature is a vexing fact for the opposition," Moldaliyev continued. "The strict actions of the law enforcement bodies gained legitimacy."

The sudden turn of events left opposition supporters chastened. Leaders of For Reforms, one of the two main opposition movements that spearheaded the anti-administration demonstrations, announced that they were halting all protest actions. They left open the possibility, however, of reviving the protest tactic in the future.

Bakiyev appeared to waste little time in pressing his political advantage. First, the Interior Ministry announced that it had opened a criminal investigation into the cause of the mass unrest. Then, in an indication that Bakiyev intends to conduct a broad crackdown against his opponents, law-enforcement agents seized the entire print runs of the opposition newspapers Agym and Kyrgyz Rukhu.

"Between 4 and 5 a.m. guys from the militia and state security services came to our office; there were about 30 people, armed," said an employee of the foreign-funded printing press that produces the newspapers. "They took printed press runs of Agym and Kyrgyz Rukhu, the plates, and even demanded that we delete the files [off our computers]." He added, "they said these papers were part of that case [against the] organizers of the mass meeting."

Later, authorities raided the United Front headquarters and the main office of Kulov’s Ar-Namys party, seizing computers and files, according to local reports. Ata-Meken party leader Omurbek Tekebayev told AKIpress that investigators had approached his office with the same intent, but that his staff had refused them access because they lacked proper documentation.

Several members of Kulov’s United Front were brought to the headquarters of the State Committee on National Security for questioning on April 20. Human rights defenders who visited the party activities said the detainees were being deprived of several basic rights, including access to legal counsel, the AKIpress news agency reported.

Kulov himself was scheduled to appear before the committee on April 21. Many of For Reforms and the United Front’s top leaders are members of parliament, and therefore enjoy immunity from prosecution. Asiya Sasykbayeva -- director of the nongovernmental group Interbilim and a member of For Reforms, told EurasiaNet that the authorities were now targeting politically active civic leaders.

Appearing before a special parliamentary session on April 20, General Prosecutor Elmurza Satybaldiyev said that he did not know the reasons behind the seizures and other investigative tactics, the 24.kg news agency reported. "The General Prosecutor has many other duties beyond issuing warrants," Satybaldiyev said. He added that investigators’ moves to question United Front members were "within the boundaries of the law," and that the newspaper seizures must have had "some justification."

Editor�s Note: Daniel Sershen is a freelance journalist based in Bishkek.

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