Moscow, Oct. 6, (dpa/GNA) – Demonstrators in Kyrgyzstan stormed central administrative buildings in the capital Bishkek in the early hours of Tuesday, following parliamentary elections over the weekend that they are disputing the results of.
A group entered the White House, where President Sooronbay Jeenbekov’s office and the parliament are located, news agency Akipress reported.
Supporters of the imprisoned ex-president Almazbek Atambayev were reported to have freed the 64-year-old from incarceration by the State Committee for National Security.
Riots in the ex-Soviet republic had begun on Monday, with thousands of political opposition supporters taking to Bishkek’s central Ala-Too Square, calling for election results to be annulled.
Demonstrators climbed over fences to the parliament building and set cars on fire. Security forces used water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades against the crowd.
There were reports of over 100 people injured.
In June, former head of state Atambayev was sentenced to around 11 years in prison for corruption. During his term of office from 2011 to 2017, he was found to have arranged the release of a reputed mafia boss.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which independently observed the elections, said the voting was tarnished by “credible allegations of vote-buying.”
According to the official results, the front-runners in the elections were two broadly pro-government parties, the newly formed democratic socialist party Birimdik (Unity) and the Mekenim Kyrgyzstan (My Homeland Kyrgyzstan) party, each with about a quarter of the votes.
GNA