Kyrgyz lawmakers charged for power grab attempt

Published Oct. 4, 2012 at 9:55 am

Kamchibek Tashiyev uses a loud speaker as he adresses a crowd in downtown Bishkek, Kyrgyz capital on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012. Around 1,000 people gathered in the center of the city for a rally, organized by nationalist politicians Sapar Zhaparov and Kamchibek Tashiyev, ostensibly to demand the nationalization of a controversial gold mine in the east of the Central Asian nation. Police officers protecting the government building, known as the White House, used dogs and smoke bombs to disperse a group of young men who attempted to scale the gates. (AP Photo/ Vladimir Voronin)

Photo by AP

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — Prosecutors in Kyrgyzstan have charged three lawmakers with attempting to violently overthrow the government and inciting crowds to take over buildings housing government offices and Parliament.

A
rally of more than 1,000 people in the capital, Bishkek, on Wednesday,
ostensibly held to demand the nationalization of a gold mine ended with
clashes with police as the politicians demanded the resignation of top
officials.

Thousands of supporters of one of the detained
lawmakers, nationalist Ata-Zhurt party leader Kamchibek Tashiyev,
gathered Thursday in the southern town of Jalal-Abad in protest at his
detention.

Tashiyev, Sadyr Zhaparov and Talant Mamytov stand
accused of inciting the crowd to attack government offices during
Wednesday’s rally.

Kyrgyzstan hosts a U.S. air base used to support military operations in nearby Afghanistan.