PROTESTS IN KYRGYZSTAN GATHER FORCE AND FOCUS
A EurasiaNet photo essay by Filip Noubel

Anti-government protests are gaining momentum in southern Kyrgyzstan. A new protest march started June 20, with up to 2,500 participants heading towards Osh, the south's chief administrative center, calling for the resignation of President Askar Akayev. Earlier, about 4,000 supporters of Azimbek Beknazarov converged on the regional center of Jalalabad, where they sought to monitor a court hearing on the embattled opposition leader's appeal of a conviction on abuse-of-power charges. Officials angered the protesters by transferring the case to another court in another region. Images of the march on Jalalabad are featured in this photo essay.

Mutual recrimination between the government and opposition is intensifying. On June 21, Beknazarov accused government officials of a cover up in connection with the March rioting in the Ak-Sui district, in which at least five protesters were killed and dozens wounded by security forces. [For background see the EurasiaNet Human Rights archive]. Beknazarov singled out State Secretary Osmonakum Ibraimov, suggesting that he played a central role in covering up the investigation into the conduct of security forces. A day earlier, Ibraimov accused Beknazarov of pursuing a separatist agenda and promoting the secession of southern Kyrgyz regions.

Controversy has engulfed Beknazarov's court case, which he asserts is politically motivated. [For background see the EurasiaNet Human Rights archive]. Beknazarov received a one-year suspended sentence on May 24. He persisted in his denials of wrongdoing and won the right to present an appeal in a hearing that was originally scheduled for June 18 in Jalalabad. After up to 4,000 marchers descended on the city, however, officials moved the hearing to Toktogul. Beknazarov claims this change in venue is invalid, because authorities failed to notify him of it 10 days in advance. A judge refused to move the appeal date to June 27, which Beknazarov would have accepted. "The government got afraid of its people and postponed the consideration," Kyrygz Committee for Human Rights chairman Ramazan Dyryldaev said June 20.

While the political jousting continues, protests around the country have gathered force. About 800 demonstrators have remained in Jalalabad. Meanwhile, the new march departed Jalalabad on June 20 headed for Osh, about 100 km (62 miles) away. On June 21, the demonstrators reportedly reached Sheraly, in the Uzgen district.

Government officials have shown little interest in entering into a dialogue with the opposition, 10 members of whom signed a statement accusing the government of cowardice on June 20. Prime Minister Nikolay Tanaev refused on June 19 to meet with opposition members over political, rather than economic, issues. In response, Dyryldaev circulated a statement attacking the judiciary. "People already know that fair and independent judicial action does not exist in the Kyrgyz Republic," he wrote. "Judicial authority is used against political opponents, and that's why the public is worried about the case of Beknazarov."

Five members of parliament signed Dyryldaev's statement, and parliament's lower house advised the Jalalabad court to consider a damning state commission report about the Ak-Sui riots when hearing Beknazarov's appeal. The report, issued on May 18, said authorities could have avoided deaths by responding more readily to citizens' concerns about Beknazarov. Akayev's cabinet resigned on May 22. But Tanaev and the new government seem to have picked up where the old cabinet left off, deriding opposition leaders as instigators. The recommendation from parliament shows that the reformists have not granted the new cabinet any grace period. Nor do they seem likely to negotiate fruitfully with the executive branch - which may explain why Dyryldaev chose to put pressure on the courts this week.

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Posted June 21, 2002 © Eurasianet
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