Uzbekistan protesters tried to seize buildings

TASHKENT: Authorities in Uzbekistan said on Saturday that they had arrested "organisers of mass riots" who wanted to seize administrative buildings in an autonomous republic that witnessed rare protests over constitutional reform proposals.

The Friday demonstration in the Republic of Karakalpakstan brought thousands onto the streets of the regional capital and followed the publication of draft amendments to the Uzbek constitution that weaken the republic’s status and should go to referendum in the coming months.

Spontaneous demonstrations are illegal in the authoritarian ex-Soviet republic and police said Friday that "order had been restored" in the area taken over by the demonstration.

The tightly controlled government has made no mention of casualties.

The proposed constitutional changes will strip the Republic of Karakalpakstan of its nominal "sovereign" status and remove its constitutional right to secede from Uzbekistan via referendum.

Constitutional commission member the commission was observing the situation in the republic and would take opinions expressed online in the republic into account.