BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — 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.
