June 01, 2005
[Schwartz (posting for Ben)] Kyr - Protesters Storm Kyrgyz Supreme Court
Witnesses in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek says hundreds of people have stormed the country's Supreme Court. They say Kyrgyz security forces are on the scene after the crowd burst into the building early Wednesday to evict protesters who had occupied the Supreme Court since April. The protesters were supporters of disqualified parliamentary candidates.
Early today a crowd of about 300 people surrounded Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court building in Bishkek. Inside about 50 people were continuing a protest they started in late April.
As law enforcement officers watched, the crowd outside suddenly rushed the building.
Those inside threw Molotov cocktails and stones at the oncoming crowd, to no avail. The crowd entered the building and proceeded to throw the protesters' possessions -- mattresses, clothing, and other objects -- out of the buildings' windows.
[...] Those inside the building were protesting the results of parliamentary elections held in February and March of this year. Their candidates were defeated in those elections or disqualified from running and their appeals were rejected by the courts.
Read Nathan Hamm's blog entry on The Registan (with photographs):
Personally, I can’t say I’m too terribly sympathetic to either side on this one. The protesters in the building certainly have a valid grievance, but there’s something to be said for accepting Kyrgyzstan’s part-way revolution and letting the government try to do its job. And throwing molotov cocktails and rocks is never cool. I guess if anything, this is another sign that Kyrgyzstan’s revolution hasn’t entirely answered the demands of everyone who took part in it.
Read Thinking-East's Issue 2 for more information about the Tulip Revolution.xxxxxxxxxxxx
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ben[at]thinking-east.net
