Kyrgyz police break up rally for jailed politician

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan: Police in Kyrgyzstan on Monday broke up a demonstration in support of a jailed opposition politician, detaining protesters who refused to quit the protest in a city centre square.

Over a thousand supporters of nationalist politician Sadyr Japarov rallied in the capital Bishkek calling for the authorities to release him.

Riot police used stun grenades to break up the protest shortly after 6:00 pm (1200 GMT) as the crowd began to move towards the main seat of government.

Police said they had previously warned the demonstrators to disperse.

Protesters hurled stones at police as they ran from the square and witnesses said they saw police make several arrests.

Japarov is a nationalist ex-lawmaker jailed on kidnapping charges in 2018 and serving a 10-year sentence, shortened from eleven years by a court last year.

Bishkek’s Ala-Too Square, where his supporters gathered, was the site of two uprisings that toppled successive presidents in 2005 and 2010.

Muslim-majority Kyrgyzstan, an impoverished country of six million people, looks to Russia to bolster its security and China for trade and investment.

The mountainous country’s economy is heavily dependent on the output of a single gold mine along with agricultural exports.