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Kyrgyz president calls on police to respect rights of protesters

Xinhua, March 29, 2017 Adjust font size:

Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev said here Wednesday that the police should respect the rights of citizens to express their civil position, but not to allow violations of the law.

According to the press service of the Kyrgyz president, Atambayev met on Wednesday with Interior Minister Ulan Israilov.

Atambayev emphasized that the police should respect the rights of protesters, but when the law is violated, the police should fulfill its task of protecting public order and ensuring public security, the report said.

Recently, supporters of opposition leader Omurbek Tekebayev and former member of the Kyrgyz Parliament Sadyr Zhaparov organized protests in the capital, demanding the release of the two detainees.

Authorities detained Zhaparov, a former parliament member, on Saturday after he just finished three years of self-imposed exile abroad and came back to Kyrgyzstan.

Shortly after his arrest, about 500 of Zhaparov's supporters rallied outside the security service headquarters in Bishkek, and later scuffled with police.

Police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd, and arrested 68 people.

Zhaparov is accused of hostage taking and funding of demonstrations in 2013 in Karakol to destabilize the situation in the country.

Opposition leader and member of parliament Tekebayev was taken into custody for two months on charges of fraud and corruption on Feb. 27. Endi